Dr Amelia Hood, representing University of Reading, was featured on BBC South News where she discussed “the future of farming”, in the context of biodiversity and soil health, particularly as they relate to climate resilience. She shared knowledge gained through working on the SHOWCASE project, which aims to integrate biodiversity into agricultural practices across Europe.

She spoke about the importance of biodiversity and soil health for climate resilience, highlighting that cover crops can be an important way of promoting biodiversity, soil health, and production. Cover crops serve multiple functions, including preventing soil erosion, improving soil structure and enhancing nutrient cycling, and the results of the SHOWCASE project further proved that they can support functional biodiversity such as earthworms and spiders. Earthworms are hugely important for soil health, improving drainage, increasing organic matter, and creating soils that are better equipped to support crop growth and withstand climate-related challenges. Spiders are natural enemies (predators) of crop pests, such as aphids, and promoting them can reduce pest damage and promote crop yield.

The topics discussed in the interview reflect the broader goals of SHOWCASE, which seeks to establish synergies between agriculture, biodiversity and ecosystem services. By promoting practices like the use of cover crops, the project aims to create a more resilient agricultural landscape that benefits both farmers and the environment. This approach is consistent with findings from other research within the project, which indicates that integrating biodiversity-friendly practices can lead to improved agricultural productivity and ecological resilience.