Conveners
Increasing biodiversity for improving resiliency of farming systems
- Christine Bissuel
- Maria Giovanna Sessa
Introduction
Relay strip intercropping with maize has been well studied in China (Li et al., 2020). This system performs well in conventional high-input agriculture partially due to complementary light capture. However, environmental policies aiming at reducing N leaching require reduced N input. In Europe, intercropping has mostly been done by combining cereals and legumes in organic farming...
- Introduction
The current societal, political, and regulatory context is leading farmers to search and develop low-input cropping systems based on agroecological levers. Sowing a permanent cover crop, usually legumes, in organic arable farming systems is an interesting lever for (i) increasing the quantities of N entering the system and which can be used by cash crops (Amossé et al., 2014;...
Introduction
Crop diversification is widely promoted as a sustainable intensification strategy due its positive effects on the land use efficiency (LUE) of crop production and its contribution to ecosystem services. Yet, such effects are highly variable, and an increase in LUE can mask decreases in individual crop yields. This can be a problem for farmers, who may value each crop...
Introduction
Crop diversity in general, and crop rotation diversity in particular, is a key principle in the design of agro-ecological cropping systems for arable crops. Since economic motives are of primary interest for farmers, assessing and analyzing the economic return of crop production diversification is essential for convincing farmers to consider diversified cropping systems for...
Extreme weather events, such as extreme rainfall and flooding events, are expected to increase in frequency and intensity. Such events are known to disturb major biogeochemical cycles such as the nitrogen (N) cycle (Greaver et al. 2016). As a result, N losses from the agroecosystem to the environment will increase, leading to the alteration of soil, air, water, and biodiversity. Hence the...
Introduction
Intercropping is an increasingly popular management strategy to simultaneously support biodiversity, ecosystem services, and yields in agricultural systems. Nevertheless intercropping studies that look at both yield and ESS, such as pest control, are less common and without them it is difficult to find management that works for both farmers and the environment. The objectives...
