Assessment of the benefits of frost-sensitive companion plants in winter rapeseed

Verret, Valentin; Gardarin, Antoine; Makowski, David; Lorin, Mathieu; Cadoux, Stéphane; Butier, Arnaud; Valantin‐Morison, Muriel

doi:10.1016/j.eja.2017.09.006

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The lack of use of row width optimization may result from additional equipment required. The effect of combined/companion crops on weeds is efficient for French farm systems [33], but little is known about the governing of those effects (direct or indirect effect).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weed Management in the Transition to Conservation Agriculture: Farmers’ Response

et al. 2020

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Recently adopted in France, conservation agriculture still faces some challenges to its adoption, particularly weed management. To highlight the weed management practices used by farmers in conservation agriculture and the changes induced by its adoption, a large sample of 425 French farmers were invited to complete an online survey. Weed management practices used by farmers were requested for three periods: before adoption, during the first years of conservation agriculture (one to two years after adoption), and when the agricultural system is considered “mastered” by the farmer. The use of each farming practice was firstly studied independently for each period. Then, a multiple correspondence analysis followed by a hierarchical ascendant classification resulted in groups of farmers with different combinations of practices for each period. Finally, the groups of farmers were followed through the periods. Results showed that changes in weed management done according to farmers when adopting and mastering conservation agriculture are multiple and vary according to farmers and their previous weed management. Although some similar choices were identified, some farmers’ trajectories, especially those with a prior combination driven by either a soil disturbance strategy or a crop competitiveness strategy, are difficult to identify when adopting conservation agriculture. Upon mastering the agricultural system, farmers’ choices become more apparent.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weed Management in the Transition to Conservation Agriculture: Farmers’ Response

et al. 2020

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“…Introducing functional biodiversity in agroecosystems is a means to use biotic interactions to reduce the reliance of agricultural systems on chemicals and enhance ecosystem services [9][10][11]. Service plants can help achieve such a goal; they are sown to provide ecosystem services to the cash crops and/or to the cropping system, and not to be harvested [12]. Following this aim, intercropping winter oilseed rape (OSR) with frost-sensitive service plants (either legumes or legume-based mixtures) is a practice that has recently shown a fast increase in Switzerland and, to a certain extent, some European countries, such as France.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Service plants intercropped with OSR or other Brassicaceae can provide several ecosystem services. For instance, frost sensitive faba bean or lentil could allow a 20 to 40 kg•ha −1 N fertilizer reduction without OSR yield loss [12,31]. Service plants can also contribute to weed [12,32], or insect pests control for instance by favouring their natural enemies [33][34][35][36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, frost sensitive faba bean or lentil could allow a 20 to 40 kg•ha −1 N fertilizer reduction without OSR yield loss [12,31]. Service plants can also contribute to weed [12,32], or insect pests control for instance by favouring their natural enemies [33][34][35][36]. Studies focusing on OSR-service plant intercropping have mainly focused on simple mixtures including only legumes [12,31,32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Service plants can also contribute to weed [12,32], or insect pests control for instance by favouring their natural enemies [33][34][35][36]. Studies focusing on OSR-service plant intercropping have mainly focused on simple mixtures including only legumes [12,31,32]. However, farmers may choose to grow more complex mixtures to achieve multiple ecosystem services or to limit the risk of failure [37][38][39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interactions between Plants and Plant-Soil in Functionally Complex Mixtures including Grass Pea, Faba Bean and Niger, Intercropped with Oilseed Rape

et al. 2021

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Winter oilseed rape (OSR) can be grown intercropped with frost-sensitive service plant mixtures. This practice may reduce weed pressure and contribute to providing N for OSR after service plant freezing. However, there is little knowledge of how plants interact together and with the soil in diverse annual crop mixtures. To assess these interactions, two contrasting legume service plants were selected: faba bean and grass pea, as well as a non-legume, the niger plant. OSR and the legumes were then grown in mesocosms alone or intercropped in mixtures of two to four species. The biomass, N contents, N2 fixation, and soil substrate-induced respiration were measured. A single species mostly drove the total dry biomass and the amount of N accumulated by the cover, OSR and faba bean for dry weight and N contents, respectively. Grass pea was highly sensitive to competition with OSR, and its N2 fixation was lower than that of faba bean. The addition of niger did not lead to additional N2 fixation of legumes or total N accumulation and contributed to reducing OSR biomass. The specific composition of the plant mixture did not explain the soil microorganism activity.

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Determinants of oilseed rape-service plant intercropping performance variability across a farmers’ fields network in Western Switzerland

Bousselin,

Lorin,

Valantin-Morison

et al. 2024

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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The intercropping of winter oilseed rape with frost-sensitive service plants can provide a diversity of services including weed control and N supply for oilseed rape. This practice started to be adopted by farmers and has therefore become one of the most popular intercropping in Western Europe. However, in Switzerland, such intercropping leads to contrasting yields. The growth of service plants and the benefits they provide have also been found to be variable. The factors explaining these variabilities remain unclear. Our study aimed to better understand this variability under a temperate climate thanks to the regional agronomic diagnosis framework. In this study, we first investigated the main factors explaining this variability and then aimed to rank them to identify ways to better manage such intercropping systems. A network of 28 farmers’ fields planted with winter oilseed rape intercropped with service plant mixtures was studied. Farmers’ practices were diverse in terms of specific composition of the service plant mixture, pest management, and fertilization. We observed that the growth of oilseed rape and service plants in fall was highly variable. We determined that in late fall, the main drivers of the service plant mixture dry weight were specific composition of the mixture and precipitation. The introduction of buckwheat in the service plant mixture enhanced its late fall biomass. The oilseed rape grain yields ranged from 0.4 to 5.0 t ha−1 and were lower than that of the local reference in 75% of the fields. This was mainly explained by insect pest damage in spring due to a very limited use of insecticide in our field network combined with a lack of alternative pest management strategies. This work provides further elements to investigate the causes leading to the high variability we observed, together with the local observations that will benefit the farmers.

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Assessment of the benefits of frost-sensitive companion plants in winter rapeseed

Cited by 19 publications

References 36 publications

Weed Management in the Transition to Conservation Agriculture: Farmers’ Response

Weed Management in the Transition to Conservation Agriculture: Farmers’ Response

Interactions between Plants and Plant-Soil in Functionally Complex Mixtures including Grass Pea, Faba Bean and Niger, Intercropped with Oilseed Rape

Determinants of oilseed rape-service plant intercropping performance variability across a farmers’ fields network in Western Switzerland

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