Purple: there is more in it than we might think

Nowadays, we often hear about the "impoverishment" of the crop structure in our arable farming, a simplification that is true, because if we look at the distribution of crop areas for 2025 (Figure 1), nearly 70% of our 4,093,500 hectares of arable land was occupied by 5 crops. If we only count the three crops grown on the largest areas, we get 61%. It is thought-provoking because it means that the principles of crop rotation, regenerative, soil-protective, and soil-renewing farming are facing a much more difficult task. We start this series of articles from this consideration, in which we present valuable clover forage crops that were previously more popular. The rediscovered values of crimson clover We start with crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum). The plant's homeland is the Iberian Peninsula and Algeria. Its cultivation has long been known in Spain and France, and its European and North American spread became significant from the 1800s. In Hungary, there was a time when it ...