JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN FINLAND
Maataloustieteellinen Aikakauskirja

Vol. 61: 477—488, 1989

Plant Production Research in Finland in the 1970 s and 1980s

JAAKKO MUKULA

Agricultural Research Centre, Department of Soils and Crops
SF-31600 Jokioinen

Introduction

In Finland, the area of arable land used for
plant production was some 2.5 million hec-
tares in 1970. Owing to surplus production,
the area was reduced to 2.0 million hectares
by the end of the 1980s. During this period
the number of farms (1 ha or over) declined
from 290 000 to 190 000.

The fields are located between the latitudes
of 60 and 67° N (Fig. 1). The growing season
( + 5°... +5°C) is about 170—180 days long
in the south and 130—135 days in the north.
The effective temperature sums (above + 5°C)
are 1200—1300 Gdd and 750—800 Gdd,
respectively. The mean temperature of the
warmest month, July, is 16—17°C, and total
precipitation during the growing season 250—

300 mm. The most common soil types are var-
ious mixtures of glacial till, sand, silt, clay and
peat. The major field crops are cereal grains,
grasses for hay and silage, oil seed rapes, pota-
to and sugar beet. Production of horticultur-
al plants is also significant.

Plant production research is carried out in
Finland by several institutes and regional ex-
perimental stations, most of them belonging
to the two governmental organizations, the
Agricultural Research Centre of Finland

(ARC) and the Faculty of Agriculture and
Forestry of Helsinki University (HU). In the
private sector, several commercial companies
are also contributing, either alone or jointly
with the governmental organizations.

During the 1970 s and 1980 s some marked
changes took place in the research organiza-
tions and their location in Finland. The ma-
jor institutes of the ARC were transferred
from the Helsinki area to Jokioinen, located
130 km northwest of Helsinki. Some new ex-
perimental stations were also established
(Fig. 2).

The objectives of plant production research
in Finland have been to secure domestic sup-
ply of food and fodder, taking into considera-
tion both the nutritionaland technical quality
of products. The regional extent of produc-
tion and its geographical location in relation
to climatic and ecological conditions as well
as the agricultural and marketing policy are
also taken into account.

During the period of this study the general
trend of plant production research was shifted
towards more interdisciplinary studies and
specific research projects. More attention was
payed to environmental factors like less pol-

477

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luting cropping systems and product quality.
Most of the plant production research con-

ducted inFinland is financed from the annual
state budget. During the period of this study
a larger sum was allocated for the building of
new laboratories and for supplying the insti-
tutes with new scientific equipment. Finance
for the implementation of research work re-
mainedabout the same as previously. Two an-
nual budgetary appropriations were granted,
however: one to support joint, interdiscipli-
nary research projects (1975) and another to
support research into environmentally safe
plant production methods (1983). In addition,
increased contributions from commercial
companies made it possible to enlarge the
scope of experimental work in certain areas
of plant production. The same was true for
private or semi-governmental foundations, the
Academy of Finland and SITRA in particu-

lar. The amount of parlamentary money spent
annually on plant production research was
about FIM 50—60 million and that of thepri-
vate sector FIM 20—25 million correspond-
ing to about 400—450 person in manpower.

Soils and soil management

Regional mapping of soils suitable for plant
production used to be carried out in Finland
by the Department of Soil Science of the
ARC. Collecting soil samples was continued
by the department until 1975 and printing of
maps until 1988. About 200 sheets at a scale
of 1 : 20 000 were the result of these studies.
In 1979 the government’s Board of Topogra-
phy and the Institute of Geology jointly took
the responsibility for continuing soil mapping.

During the period of this study (1970 —1989)

Fig. I. The geographical distribution of arable land in
Finland. (Source: Atlas of Finland 1982:1Ig.)

Fig. 2. Agricultural institutes, experiment stations (•)

and cultivation zones (I —V) for field crops pro-
duction.

478



the Department of Soil Science participated
in the global assessment of soil micronutrients
sponsored by FAO Sillanpää (1982). Re-
gional assessment of soil micronutrient is still
on the department’s programme at the coun-
try level (Sillanpää 1988).

A private company called Soil Fertility
Services carried out soil fertility studies with
a view to providing farmers with the informa-
tion necessary for fertilizing their fields
properly. Country-wide summaries of these
studies were published by Kurki (1982) and
Kähäri et ai. (1987). Special studies of sever-
al mineral elements were carried out in cooper-
ation with other institutes.

The use of chemical fertilizers increased un-
til the mid 1970 s (Fig. 3). A method to place
the fertilizer under soil surface between the
seed rows was developed in the 1960 s and
adopted in farming practice at the beginning
of this study period. Special equipment made
it possible to sow and fertilize simultaneous-
ly (cf. Oksanen, in this volume). The place-
ment technique led to a considerable improve-
ment in the degree of utilization of fertilizers

by plants. Nevertheless, about 40 °7o of
nutrients were not taken up by plants and en-
tered water courses, the atmosphere or ground
soil as useless compounds (Elonen 1984).
This had detrimental impact on the environ-
ment. Intensive research work was done to es-
tablish nutrient losses and how to reduce
them. Some imbalance in soil nutrients was
also found when using heavy nitrogen fertili-
zation. Nitrogen apparently stimulated plant’s
utilization of other nutrients, potassium in
particular.

In the 1980 s new experiments were con-
ducted to determine the optimum amount of
commercial fertilizers to be used for field
crops. Owing to the low level of selenium in
Finnish soils it was decided to add this element
to commercial fertilizer mixtures (Yläranta
1983). Several field experiments were also car-

ried out with farm yeard manure, ash, organic
sludge and other substances from the waste
waters of populated areas and factories. Cer-
tain heavy metals, especially cadmium and
lead, proved problematic in the use of sludge.

There is often a special need for soil irriga-
tion in some parts of southern Finland, where
early summer drought frequently limits the
growth of plants. Sprinkler irrigation was in-
troduced in the early 1970 s (Elonen 1983).
By the end of this study period about 10000
sprinkler units were in use with the maximum
capacity of 100 000 ha.

Soil compaction due to the use of heavy
machines and carriers on fields is a difficult
problem. Efforts were made to ease it by fit-
ting double tyres to tractors and carriers. Ex-
periments were also made using deep cultors
and rotary harrows. To improve the seed bed
preparation special warping equipment was
added to conventional harrows (cf. Oksanen,
in this volume).

Plant breeding

Finland’s location at the northern limit of
plant production makes it difficult to cultivate
foreign varieties. The main climatic factors

Fig. 3. The rate of main nutrients yearly used in com-
mercial fertilizer mixtures, kg/ha. (Source: Ke-
mira Ab.)

479



limiting plant production are the short grow-
ing season with its low effective temperature
sum and the hard winter. Hence, the domes-
tic plant breeding is important.

During the 1970 s and 1980 s the breeding of
field crops continued intensively at the Plant
Breeding Institute of the Hankkija Coopera-
tive Company under Professor Erkki Kivi and
at the Department of Plant Breeding of the
ARC underProfessor Rolf Manner. The Hah-
kiala Training and Experimental Farm of the
Kesko-Group contributed as a part of a con-
tract with Swedish Svalöf Ab. In 1985, a simi-
lar contract was made by Suomen Vilja (the
Finnish Cereal) and the Swedish Plant Breed-
ing Institute of W. Weibull Ab, both of them
private companies. The domestic breeding of
horticultural plants was mainly in the hands
of the Department of Horticulture of the
ARC.

In the 1970 s Finland participated in the es-
tablisment and development of the Nordic
Gene Bank (NGB) and Internordic Plant
Breeding (SNP) sponsored by the Nordic
Council of Ministers. Finland’s active cooper-
ation with these and other international plant
breeding organizations continued in the 1980s.

During this study period the main objectives
ofFinnish plant breeding were to produce cul-
tivars which

thrive well in the climate and ecological
conditions of Finland;
meet the quality demands of consumers
and the food/fodder industry;
possess good resistance to pests and dis-
eases;
can be adapted to mechanical cultivation;
have high yielding potential.

These objectives call for earliness in annual
plants, winter hardiness in biennials and
perennials, strengthening of straw in cereals
and increased amount and improved quality
of protein in cereal grains and forage grasses.

The conventional breeding methods includ-
ed mass and single plants selection, pedigree
and bulk methods, progeny testing (polycross)
and mutation breeding.

Great strices were taken in adopting basic

methods of modern biotechnology, such as
anther cultures, protoplast regeneration, in-
terspecies fusion transformation and genetic
engineering. The aim of these studies, con-
ducted by several institutes, was to produce
basic material for plant breeding.

The new cultivars of field crops, both
domesticand foreign, were evaluated at sever-
al domestic institutes and experimental sta-
tions. On the basis of these evaluations, a spe-
cial committee, established by the National
Board of Agriculture in 1975, compiles an an-
nual list of “recommended field crops varie-
ties” to guide the farmers to select suitable cul-
tivars. In 1978, the plant breeders agreed to
delegate the responsibility for the “official va-
riety testing” of field crops to the Department
of Plant Husbandry of the ARC. For this pur-
pose, the country was divided into five culti-
vation zones and the experiments were dis-
tributed to the stations located in the ap-
propriate cultivation zones (Fig. 2, p. 1).

A law advancement of plant breeding
(1977), enacted in accordance with interna-
tional organizations, gave a significant boost
to Finnish plant breeding. The number of new
varieties bred by Hankkija in the 1970 s and

Table I. The number of domestic varieties of field crops
and lawn grasses: a) bred during 1970—1989;
b) included in the list of recommended varie-
ties for 1990.

Plant group Hankkija ARC Jo

a b a b

Winter cereals 3 2 7 6(2)
Spring cereals 16 II 16 8(1)
Peas 73 2
Oil plants
Spring rape and turnip rape 4 1 2
Potatoes 3 3 1 (2)
Clovers 11 0 (3)
Forages-hays 3 2(1) 5 5(1)
Lawn grass 3 3 2 1
Species not in the list
Horse bean 2
Smooth brome grass 1
Winter turnip rape I 1

Total 43 26(1) 37 20(9)'

( ) = the variety bred before 1970

480



481

1980 s was 43, and by the Department of Plant
Breeding of the ARC was 37 (Table 1). The
respective number of foreign varieties in-
troduced in the 1970 s and 1990 s was about
100, of which 40 were breeded in contract with

Kesko-Group. The Department of Horticul-
ture of the ARC breeded 15 varieties of small
fruits and seven new varieties of apple. The
number of varieties of flowers bred by the
Department of Horticulture and some private
nurseries was 21. In addition, the Department
of Plant breeding of HU developed six new
varieties of rhododendron.

Planl protection

Plant protection is usually divided into three
sections: pest investigations, plant pathology
and weed science. Finland has special insti-
tutes for pest investigations and plant pathol-
ogy at both the ARC and HU. Weed investi-
gations, on the other hand, were a part of the
programmes of the Departments of Plant
Husbandry and Horticulture of the ARC un-
til the end of 1988. When the ARC was reor-

ganized in 1989, a special unit for weed con-
trol was established in the new Department of
Plant Protection. Closer cooperation with
several other institutes was established with-
in the framework of the three sectors involved
with plant protection.

Surveys of the damage, frequency and
abundance of pests in cultivated plants were
carried out by the Department of Pest Inves-
tigations of the ARC every other year in the
1970 s and 1980 s (Markkula 1972—1987).
Similar surveys on certain plant pathogens
were carried out by the Departments of Plant
Pathology of the ARC and HU. The survey
of weeds on winter cereals was conducted by
the University of Jyväskylä in cooperation
with the Department of Plant Husbandry of
the ARC in the mid 1970 s (M. and T. Raati-
kainen 1978). The weed survey on spring
cereals was carried out by the Plant Husband-
ry Department of the ARC (Erviö and Salo-
nen 1987). The results showed a strong de-
cline in the abundance of weeds during the
past twenty years. The dry weight of aerial
weed shoots on unsprayed fields had dropped
from 1000kg/ha down to 320 kg/ha and that

UNTREATED

SPRAYED WITH
HERBICIDES

Fig. 4. The decline in the amounts of weeds in spring
cereals measured as dry weight of aerial shoots,
kg/ha.

Fig. 5. Sales of pesticides calculated as active ingredients,
tonnes. (Source: E.-L. Hynninen and H. Blom-
qvist 1989.)



on sprayed field to 124 kg/ha (Fig. 4). Thus
the potential yield of 876 kg/ha had been
released for the utilization of cultivated plants
in sprayed fields.

Methods for controlling pests, diseases and
weeds shifted from chemical control to more
integrated and biological control. The pesti-
cide law was revised by new Acts (1970, 1982)
calling for more detailed studies not only of
the efficacy and safety of pesticides for culti-
vated plants but also of their toxicity, residues
and environmental hazards. The official field
experiments with pesticides were carried out
mainly by four departments of the ARC,
which, in this capacity, were jointly named the
“Plant Protection Institute”. Some of the
field experiments with pesticides were dis-
tributed to the regional experimental stations.

The Plant Protection Institute of the ARC
was discontinued in 1982. Since then respon-
sibility for the official approval of pesticides
has been delegated to the interdisciplinary
Committee on Pesticides at the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry. Several authorities,
such as the institutes or boards of medicine,
food, occupational safety and agricultural
chemistry are represented on this committee.

Sales trends in pesticides during 1974—1988
are shown in Fig. 5. The total abundance of
agricultural pesticides amounted to 1834 met-
ric tonnes (a.i.) in 1988. The largest group,
herbicides, accounted for 76 % of the total.
Cereal herbicides were sufficient for spraying
960 000 hectares, corresponding to 79 % of
the total cereal acreage. The use of glypho-
sate for controlling quackgrass increased while
the use of several other herbicides decreased.
Sales of agricultural insecticides amounted
to 213 tonnes, corresponding to 635 000 hec-
tares, or 26 % for single treatment of fields.
The amount of fungicides marketed in 1988
amounted to 144 tonnes (a.i.). The major
proportion of this consisted of the mercury
compounds (other than alcyl mercury) used
for seed treatment. Some 630 000 hectares cor-
responding to 52 % of the total cereal area
was sown with treated seed. Sales of plant
growth regulators amounted to 88 tonnes.

Biological control of pest insects was in-
itiated by Professor Martti Markkula (1981)
at the Department of Pest Investigations of
the ARC in the early 19705. His methods
replaced the major insecticides previously
used in glasshouses. The techniques used by
Markkula were based on the use of a) para-
sitic, b) carnivorous or c) pathogenic organ-
isms for destroying the pest insects. The fol-
lowing commercially produced organisms
were released for sale: Phytosciulus persimi-
lis, Tetranychus urticae, Encarsia formosa
and Aphidoleles aphidimyces. Successful ex-
periments on the control of pests with the aid
of pheromones, attractive trap plants and oth-
er means were carried out by other workers
at the same department.

The most significant discovery in the bio-
logical control of plant pathogens was made
by Dr. Risto Tahvonen (1988), who estab-
lished the fungistatic properties of Strep-
tomyces qriseovihdis. Tahvonen’s method has
been patented in several countries. Using fer-
menting techniques, Kemira began manufac-
turing a commercial product (Mycostop) from
this Streptomyces species.

Successful studies were carried out in order
to determine, test and produce healthy plant

Fig. 6. The use of arable fields for major crops during
the 1970 s and 1980s.

482



material free of viruses. The role of antagonis-
tic fungi, interaction between fungi and bac-
teria were but two of the numerous research
projects that were conducted under the super-
vision of Professor Eeva Tapio in the Depart-
ment of Plant Pathology of HU.

Yields and quality of plants

The overall trend in Finnish agriculture
during the 1970 s and 1980 s was marked by an
increase in the yield and quality of plant
products despite of the decrease in culti-
vated field area (Fig. 6). The average yield of
field crops rose from 2032 to 2930 feed units
per hectare, or 1.33 % per year, thus demon-
strating the significant impact of improved
soil management and plant breeding (Fig. 7).
A similar trend was noted in the yields of cer-
tain horticultural plants. In their, though, the
improved plant protection played a more
prominent role.

Forage grasses and clover

Production of field crops has traditionally
been closely related to the level of animal hus-
bandry or dairy farming in the country (cf.
Poutiainen et al., in this volume). At the be-
ginning of this study period the harvested and
pastured forage grasses and clover accounted
for 46 % of the cultivated field area. They
were grown as temporary leys in rotation with
other field crops. By 1989 the proportion of

forage leys was dropped to 33 °7o of cultivated
fields. Surplusproductionand high production
costs had forced farmers to curtail production
of forage plants.

In 1970, as much as 92 % of the harvested
leys were cut and dried for hay, only 8 %

being prepared for silage. By 1989 the propor-
tion of hay had fallen to 61 %, whereas pro-
duction of silage had risen to 39 %. The leys
for pastures and seed production are not in-
cluded in the above figures.

The shift from hay to silage made for a sig-
nificant improvement in the quality of forage.
For example, the amount of digestible crude
protein rose from 100—115 g to 130—165 g
per feed unit.

Timothy had previously been cultivated
in leys as mixtures with red clover. During
the period of this study timothy was partly
replaced by meadow fesque and cocksfoot,
which have a better ability for regrowth. Red
clover had previously accounted for 27 °/o of
the harvested forage mixtures. By the end of
the 1960 s the proportion of clover had already
fallen to 8 %. Apparently clover was not able
to compete with grasses when higher amounts
of fertilizers were used. In addition, clover
hindered drying for bailing. Serious efforts
were made to improve the nitrogen fixing
ability of Rhizodium bacteria, growing in
symbiosis with clover (SITRA 1986, Uomala
1986, Kemppainen 1987). Some success was
achieved by plantbreeders in improving the re-
sistance of clover to winter damage. Evident-
ly the clover can still play an important role
in forage production for silage and pastures.

The trend in the yield of dry hay increased
from about 3600 to 4000 kg/ha during the
1970 s and remained to this level until the end
of this study period. Similarly, the yields of
silage rose during the 1970 s from about 15
tonnes to 20 tonnes per hectare, likewise re-
maining at that level until the end of this
study. The correlation coefficients for the an-
nual variation in yield were only 7—9 ®/o in
some areas of central and western Finland.
Owing to frequent early summer drought the
correlation coefficients rose much higher

Fig. 7. The increasing trend in the yields of field crops
and their variability, feed units per ha. (Source:
L. Kettunen 1989.)

483



along the southern coast; winter damage did
the same in the north. Excess nitrogen fertili-
zation and too frequent or incorrectly timed
cuttings for silage contributed to winter dam-
age, especially in Lappland (Marjanen et ai.
1976). Some imbalance was also found in the
Mg/K ratio of the forage (Tähtinen 1979).
Even this was caused by excessively heavy
nitrogen fertilization. The imbalance was cor-
rected by dividing the usage of nitrogen into
two periods and increasing the amount of
potassium in the fertilizer mixtures.

Cereals

The total area of cereal grains was about
1.2 million hectares during the 1970 s and
1980s. The acreage by species are given in
Table 2. At the end of the 1980s, 74 official
experiments comparing cultivars were con-
ducted every year. Further experiments with
cereals concerned the effect of fertilizers, soil
management, plant protection, etc.

An increase in grain yields of cereals was
significant. The estimated harvest index rose
to 40—50 «7o (Kivi 1984).

The area of winter rye declined drastically
until the autumn 1988. This was due to rainy
weather, which frequently prevented sowing.
Special seminars were held to discuss the prob-
lems of insufficient production of winterrye.
Determined efforts were made to ease the sow-
ing problems and to introduce improved cul-
tivars. The “trend yield” of winter rye per

area unit rose from 2030 to 2320kg/ha. This
corresponded to an annual rise of 15 kg/ha,
or 0.7 °7o. The correlation coefficient for the
total yield was moderately low, 15 %, while
that for the commercially acceptable yield rose
to 22 % (Table 2). The areas of total crop fail-
ure caused by winter damage are not included
in the above figures. The worst years of crop
failure were 1974, 1977, 1981 and 1988 (Mu-
kula and Rantanen 1989). Of the cultivars
Jussi (Hja 1975)had the best winterhardiness
in snowy areas, Anna (Jo 1979) the best yield
capacity and Kartano (Jo 1985) the strongest
straw.

The region suitable for winter wheat is limit-
ed to the southwest of the country. The same
problems were encountered in cultivation of
this cereal as in that with winter rye. Year
after year excessively rainy autumns reduced
the area planted for winter wheat. Cultivation
of winter wheat reached its lowest level in
1987/88, when the harvested area was only
5400 ha. The yield of winter wheat per area
unit rose from 2650 to 3080 kg/ha, when cal-
culated according to the linear trend. This cor-
responded to an annual rise of 22 kg/ha, or
0.8 °7o. The correlation coefficient for the an-
nual yield variations was 15 % for the total
yield and 22 % for the commercially accepta-
ble per hectare yield. These figures do not in-
clude the area of total crop failure caused by
winter injuries. In 1974, the failed area ex-
ceeded 20 %, in 1981 53 % and in 1984 45 °/o
of the planted area. An explanation for these

Table 2. The grain yields ofcereal grains and their annual rise when calculated according to the linear trend. The com-
mercial acceptability and correlation coefficients of the yields are also given.

Winter Winter Spring Barley Oats
rye wheat wheat

Trend yield in 1969, kg/ha 2030 2640 2655 2310 2345
Trend yield in 1989, kg/ha 2320 3080 3190 3070 3155
Annual rise kg/ha 15 22 47 38 39
Annual rise % 0.7 0.8 1.8 1.5 1.5
Commercial acceptability, % 90 92 84 84 85
Correlation coefficient

for total yield % 15 19 16 II 9
for commercial yield % 22 26 31 16 16

484



exceptionally high figures for winter damage
was the delayed of sowing in too wet soil. The
average quality of winter wheat was reasona-
bly good. The protein content of grains of the
most common cultivars reached 11.3—12.8 %

during the 1980s. The highest yielding culti-
var was Aura (Jo 1975), while lives (Hja 1984)
had the hardest straw and Pitko (Jo 1985) the
highest protein content.

The area of spring wheat was about 120000
ha in the early 1970 s and rose to about 175 000
ha by 1975. Owing to overproduction, the area
was then reduced to a level of 100 000 ha. The
trend yield of spring wheat was 2655 in 1970
and 3190 kg/ha in 1989, corresponding to an
annual rise of 47 kg/ha, or 1.8 % per year.
The correlation coefficient for the total yield
was reasonably low, 16 %, but rose up to
31 % in the commercially acceptable yield.
This was an evidence of the exceptional vul-
nerability of the quality. The protein content
of Finnish spring wheat showed a decreasing
trend until 1985. To redress the situation a
special wheat protein project was launched in
1986. The fate of the nitrogen used as fertilizer
was studied in detail both in the soil and in
the plants using ISN techniques. The quality
of gluten protein was evaluated by using pro-
tein fractioning and test baking. The highest
yielding cultivar during the period of this
study was Kadett (Wb 1981), and the best re-
sistance to lodging were showed by Luja (Jo
1981) and Polkka (Sv 1988). Heta (Hja 1988)
ripened faster and had higher protein content
(15.6 %) than the other varieties.

The area planted for barley grew almost
constantly from 400 000 ha to 680 000 ha
during the period of this study. The average
level of the yield rose from 2310 to 3070 kg/
ha, which corresponded to an annual rise of
38 kg/ha, or 1.5 % yearly. The major weak-
ness in barley varieties was the inadequate
strength of their straw. Hence, the main ef-
fort in breeding new cultivars from barley was
directed at hardening the straw. Significant
improvements were seen, a development
which is to be hoped will continue in the fu-
ture. A special research project for malting

barley was carried out in the 1980s. The aim
of this project was to produce recommenda-
tions referring specifically to the varieties cul-
tivated for malting purpose. As to the six-row
varieties HJA 673 (Hja 1973) and Arra (Jo
1982) were the earliest to ripen; their weak-
ness was soft straw. The protein content of
six-row varieties was highest in Arra. Agneta
(Sv 1978), Kalle (Sv 1984 and Pohto (HJA
1986) showed significantly harder straw. In

this respect the two-row varieties Ida (1979)
and Kymppi (Sv 1980) were still stronger. Both
were accepted not only for fodder but also for
malting purposes.

The area under oats fell from about 550 000
ha down to 400 000 ha. The average yield rose
from 2350 to 3155 kg/ha, corresponding to
an annual rise of 39 kg/ha, or 1.5 %. The var-
iation coefficient was moderately low, 9 % for
the total yield and 16 % for the commercially
acceptable yield. The trend in oats’ breeding
was towards thinning the grain husk, increas-
ing the protein content, strengthening the
straw and shortening the growing time. Two
significantly improved cultivars, Puhti (Jo
1978) and Veli (Jo 1981), demonstrated the
achievements of Finnish plant breeders.

Other seed crops

The only oil seed crop cultivated in Finland
in the early 1970 s was winter turnip rape.
Owing to its high content of harmful eruca
acid the cultivation of winter turnip rape was
discontinued in the mid 19705, and it was
replaced by spring turnip rape and spring
rape. The plant breeders soon succeeded in
freeing both of them from eruca acid. The
first acceptable cultivars were obtained from
Sweden and Canada. Domestic plant breeders
had success to joint in the 1980s. Problems in
developing cultivation techniques for these
new crops called for special research projects
directed at sowing and harvesting techniques,
fertilization, control of pests, weeds and dis-
eases, etc. The quality of theoil pressed from
the seeds as well as the suitability of thepress-
ing residual for animal fodder were studied in-

485



tensively. As a result, the plant breeders even
succeeded in eliminating the toxic glucosino-
lates. The area under spring sown rapes rose
consistently to almost 86 000 ha in 1988. The
yield level of spring turnip rape was only
1400—1600 kg/ha, while that of spring rape
was 3100—3300 kg/ha. The long growing time
restricted the cultivation of spring rape to
small areas along the south coast, while the
turnip rape varieties thrived well in zones I and
11, some of them even at the southernmargin
of zone 111 (cf. Fig. 2, p. 1). The earliest of
the turnip rape varieties were Ante (Sv) and
Nopsa (Jo 1986). Kova (Sv 1988) showed a sig-
nificantly harder stem.

Peas have traditionally cultivated in small
areas of southern and central Finland for
hundreds of years. During the period of this
study the area planted annually for pea was
only 1500—2000 ha and that of mixture of pea
and cereals 1000—3000 ha. The growing time
of cultivars ranged from 88 to 101 days. One
of the difficulties in cultivating the conven-
tional peas was their inadequate suitability to
long day conditions. They tended to continue
both vegetative growing and flowering before
finally lodging. Such types of pea were not
suitable for mechanical harvesting. Not even
supporting the pea stand with hard straw
cereals gave satisfactory results. Some pro-
gress was madeby plant breeders in producing
fascicata types of pea with a shorter stem and
blunt crown. Another interesting development
was a semi-leafless type bearing strong tendrils
which caused the plants to intertwine and thus
prevented lodging.

Potatoes and sugar beets

The area planted for potato was reduced
from 60 000 to 45 000 ha during the 1970 s and
1980s. The yield level, however, rose from
about 16 to 20 tonnes per hectare. Factors
contributing to this favourable trend were the
efforts made by the Finnish Potato Growers
Society, the Potato Research Institute and the
Seed Potato Centre, which produced healthy
planting material free of viruses. The plant-

ing, cultivation and harvesting techniques
of potato improved markedly as did harvest
handling in storage and market, thus further
contributing to the better quality of commer-
cial potatoes. Outbreaks of dangerous diseases
such as potato wart (Synchytrium), nematodes
(Heterodera) and ring rot ( Corynebacterium)
were prevented by isolating the infected areas
as specified in the international plant quaran-
tine regulations (e.g. Seppänen and Heinänen
1973, Aapro 1980). Similarly, virus diseases
were submitted to special surveillance (Kurp-
pa 1984). An interesting research project to
study the glycoalkaloids (solanides) in pota-
toes was carried out jointly by the Department
of Plant Husbandry, two experimental sta-
tions and the Central Laboratory of the ARC.
High alkaloid contents were found mainly in
northern areas. Detailed results of this pro-
ject have not yet been published.

Sugar beet was cultivated in southern Fin-
land over an area of 25 000—32 000 ha. The
cultivars were breeded in contract with Swed-
ish Hilleshög or other foreign plant breeders.
The normal yield of sugar beet ranged from
25 to 30 tonnes per hectare and the sugar con-
tent from 15 to 17 %. The use of monogerm
seed combined with selective herbicides such
as chloridatzon, phenmedipham, etofumesate
and metamitron made it possible to reduce
the sowing density and thus to minimize the
manual thinning. The herbicidespraying was
usually repeated in small doses using the ap-
propriate “tankmixtures”. To optimize the
use of fertilizers a special computer program
was developed making it possible to reduce the
use of fertilizers by 40 %. To increase the ef-
ficiency of the fertilizer a special placement
method was developed. The fertilizer place-
ment unit and seed units were fitted with ro-
tary harrow. This kind of one-pass machine
made it possible to sow sugar beet directly on
to the plowed soil and thus effectively avoid
soil compaction.

Horticulturalplants
Horticulture is the most diversified and

rapidly growing sector of Finnish plant pro-

486



Table 3. Commercial production of horticultural plants
in 1986.

Groups of plants Area Production
ha million FIM

On open fields
vegetables 7 100 200—250
small fruits 7 200 250

strawberri 2 600 250
black currant 900
others currants 350 30
gooseberry 200
raspberry 150

apples 440 20
nurseries 475 70—80

In glass houses
vegetables 235 540
ornamentals 120 600

duction. Research into horticultural plants
was carried out by the two horticultural in-
stitutes of the ARC and HU. The institutes
of crop protection and soil science also con-
tributed, as did some regional experimental
stations and private enterprices. Even so the
research into horticultural plants did not meet
the expanding demand for this special sector
of plant production. Future research into hor-
ticultural plants is intended to increase both
basic studies and project-oriented interdiscipli-
nary studies.

The area and market values of the major
commercial horticultural plants, evaluated in
1986, are given in Table 3. Home gardens,
public parks and green areas for recreation
are not included in the table. The total area
of commercial vegetables, small fruits and
nuresery plants in open fields amounted to
12 065 ha. This corresponded to FIM 500—

600 million per year in production value, but
did not meet the domestic need. In addition,
production area was too narrow. For exam-
ple, the commercial production of vegetables
was to a great extend limited to cabbages, cu-
cumbers and carrots.

The estimated area of home gardens was
14 000 ha in 1983 and that of public parks
and green areas for sport and recreation was
2000—3000 km 2

. The green area was increas-
ing by 2000—3000 ha annually, and the

amount of money spent for green areas was
FIM 2.5 billion per year!

The average quality of domestic horticul-
tural products prooved better than that of im-
ported products. Above all, contamination by
air pollutant was low. The perennial horticul-
tural plants bred in Finland showed better
winter hardiness than did imported ones.

Cropping systems

The term “cropping system” refers to var-
ious aspects of soil management, fertilization,
plant protection and plant or crop rotation.
The cultivation methods of conventional crop-
ping systems were discussed previously in this
paper. The purpose has been, and still is, to
achieve as effective and economic plant and
crop production as possible with the aid of
large quantities of fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
Rotation of plants or crops was originally con-
sidered part of the conventional cropping sys-
tem. Owing to the reduced number of people
working in agriculture, farmers were forced
to replace manual labour with agricultural ma-
chinery, which in many cases could be
applied only to certain types of plants or
crops, e.g. combined harvesters to cereals, hay
balers and ensilage cutters to harvest grasses,
digging machines with automatic loading sys-
tems to sugar beets and potatoes (cf. Oksa-
nen, in this volume). Concentrating the pro-
duction on only one type of plant the farmers
avoided buying too many kinds of expensive
machinery. Such a development inevitably led
to an increasing one-sided drift and finally to
monoculture. This in turn increased the vul-
nerability of production and caused difficul-
ty in the control of pests, diseases and weeds,
many of which are more or less specific to cer-
tain cultivated plant or crop. The chemical
residues in food and feed prompted public
concern about the affects on health of plant
products cultivated by conventional methods.

Preliminary research into alternative crop-
ping systems was carried out in the 19705. A
pioneer in this sector of plant production was

487



Professor Eero Varis at the Department of
Plant Husbandry of HU. Varis was interested
in new plants, leguminous in particular, mix-
tures of plants differing growing types and
crop rotation needs. He also explored the
feasibility of avoiding the use of fertilizers and
pesticides.

In the 1980 s the following four large scale
research projects into alternative cropping sys-
tems were carried out in Finland:

1) Biological nitrogen fixation (1981
1985): The project comprised several sub-
projects, and a number of institutes and or-
ganizations were involved in the direction of
Dr. Pertti Uomala (1986).

2) Prospects for self-sufficiency in food
production independent of imported energy
inputs (1982—1985): The project covered crop
rotation, nitrogen recovery and a subproject
on composting. It was carried out by two in-
stitutes and four experimental stations of the
ARC in the direction of Dr. Jouko Sippola.

3) Comparison of cropping systems (1982
—1988): This was a joint study carried out at
Suitia experimental farm by sex institutes of
HU under the direction of Professor Eeva
Tapio.

4) A case study on alternative farming
(1983—1986); The project was carried out on
50 farms in southern Finland under the direc-
tion of Dr. Timo Mela.

The financing of these studies was obtained
mainly from the SITRA foundation, the Finn-
ish Academy of Science and the Finnish
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Some
cooperation between the Nordic countries was
also organized by the Scandinavian Associa-
tion of Agricultural Scientists (NJF) and the
Nordic Contact Organ for Agricultural Re-
search (NKJ).

In Finland, the acreage of alternative crop-
ping systems has been minimal to date. Owing
to the expansing public interest, however, the
area of alternative cultivation is expected to
grow in the near future.

Selected Iliterature

Annales Agriculturae Fenniae, Vois. 10—28
(1970—1989): Annual lists of agricultural
papers published by the scientists of the insti-
tutes counted below.

Agricultural Research Centre, SF-31600 Jokioinen

Central Laboratory
Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Physics
Department of Plant Husbandry (Crop Science)
Department of Horticulture
Department of Plant Breeding
Department of Plant Pathology
Department of Pest Investigations
Department of Soil Science
Healthy Plant Centre
Martens Vegetable Research Station

University of Helsinki, SF-00710 Helsinki

Department of Agricultural Chemistry
Department of Food Chemistry and Technology
Department of Horticulture
Department of Plant Breeding
Department of Plant Husbandry
Department of Agric. and Forest Zoology
Department of Microbiology
Department of Plant Pathology

Other institutes

Assoc. Agric. Centres, Helsinki
Food Res. Lab. Techn. Res. Centre, Espoo
Grain Laboratory of State Granary, Helsinki
Inst. Biol. Jyväskylä University, Jyväskylä
Kemira Co, Helsinki
National Board of Agriculture, Helsinki
Pesticide Bureau, Vantaa
Plant Breeding Institute of Hankkija, Hyrylä
Potato Research Institute, Lammi
Research Centre for Sugar Beet, Perniö
Res. Inst. Agric. Economics, Helsinki
Soil Analyses Service, Helsinki
State Inst. Agric. Chemistry, Helsinki
Work Efficiency Association, Helsinki

Committee meetings

Luonnonmukaisen viljelyn tutkimuksen, opetuksen ja
neuvonnan kehittäminen. Komiteamietintö 1968:37.
Helsinki.

Maataloustutkimuksen tavoiteohjelma. Maataloustutki-
mus 2000. Työryhmämietintö MMM 1987:10. Hel-
sinki.

Puutarhapoliittinen tavoiteohjelma. Puutarha-alan jär-
jestöt. Helsinki 1986.

488