Clover - a natural fertiliser

Non-organic farmers in the UK may use high levels of chemical fertilisers (especially nitrogen) on the land to help crops grow quickly. This practice is not sustainable because the manufacture of these fertilisers uses a lot of oil and so depletes the world's limited supply of fossil fuels. Artificial fertiliser can also be washed away causing pollution in rivers and streams.

As an organic farmer, Jim has turned his back on artificial fertilisers and plants clover instead. Clover builds soil fertility thanks to special bacteria on its roots which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and make it available in the soil to help plants grow. Clover can fix the equivalent of 200 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare in a completely natural way and is therefore an essential part of a more sustainable farming system.

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