Mixing Plant Species in Cropping Systems: Concepts, Tools and Models: A Review

Malézieux, Éric; Crozat, Yves; Dupraz, Christian; Laurans, Marilyne; Makowski, David; Ozier‐Lafontaine, Harry; Rapidel, Bruno; Tourdonnet, Stéphane de; Morison, Muriel

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2666-8_22

Cited by 162 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 120 publications

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“…Many studies have classified these systems on the basis of their species composition, design, and management (Andrews and Kassam 1976;Poveda et al 2008;Malézieux et al 2009;Lithourgidis et al 2011). This paper focuses on plant diversity in fields and field margins in cropping systems based on annual and herbaceous plants (Figs.…”

Section: Plant Diversity In Multiple Cropping Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In multiple cropping systems, plant diversity is designed and managed to improve crop production and reduce harmful environmental impacts based on the hypothesis that positive interactions between plants for resource acquisition and mobilization of natural regulation can replace agrochemical inputs (Malézieux et al 2009). Plant diversity can provide a range of ecosystem services based on the type (positive, neutral, or negative) and degree of plant-plant interactions and on the local environmental and management conditions (Tilman 1999;Diaz et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multiple cropping systems as drivers for providing multiple ecosystem services: from concepts to design

Gaba

Lescourret

Boudsocq

et al. 2014

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

286

190

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Provisioning services, such as the production of food, feed, and fiber, have always been the main focus of agriculture. Since the 1950s, intensive cropping systems based on the cultivation of a single crop or a single cultivar, in simplified rotations or monocultures, and relying on extensive use of agrochemical inputs have been preferred to more diverse, self-sustaining cropping systems, regardless of the environmental consequences. However, there is increasing evidence that such intensive agroecosystems have led to a decline in biodiversity as well as threatening the environment and have damaged a number of ecosystem services such as the biogeochemical nutrient cycles and the regulation of climate and water quality. Consequently, the current challenge facing agriculture is to ensure the future of food production while reducing the use of inputs and limiting environmental impacts and the loss of biodiversity. Here, we review examples of multiple cropping systems that aim to use biotic interactions to reduce chemical inputs and provide more ecosystem services than just provisioning. Our main findings are the identification of underlying ecological processes and management strategies related to the provision of pairs of ecosystem services namely food production and a regulation service. We also found gaps between ecological knowledge and the constraints of agricultural practices in taking account of the interactions and possible trade-offs between multiple ecosystem services as well as socioeconomic constraints. We present guidelines for the design of multiple cropping systems combining ecological, agricultural, and genetic concepts and approaches.

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Section: Plant Diversity In Multiple Cropping Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple cropping systems as drivers for providing multiple ecosystem services: from concepts to design

Gaba

Lescourret

Boudsocq

et al. 2014

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

286

190

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Intercropping is also rare elsewhere in extensive farming systems (Anil et al 1998;Malézieux et al 2009) while grass-clover mixtures are the norm in non-cultivated and more natural grassland ecosystems. However, there seems to be a renewed interest in cereal/ legume intercrops in Europe, most notably in organic farming (Anil et al 1998;Malézieux et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organic farming is thus regarded as one prototype to enhance the sustainability of present agriculture and cereal-rich cropping systems because organic farming does not allow the use of chemicals and is also in general assumed to rely on higher crop diversity than its conventional counterpart. Indeed, diversification of farming systems by increasing the number of cultivated species and including a larger proportion of legumes was proposed as a global response to the challenges of future agriculture (Vandermeer 1995;Vandermeer et al 1998;Altieri 1999;Griffon 2006;Malézieux et al 2009). Instead of using synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to increase farmland productivity in the short term and the overall farm production like for the Green Revolution, new systems could be designed based on symbiotic N 2 fixation by legumes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is defined as the simultaneous growth of two or more species in the same field for a significant period of time (Willey 1979a) but without necessarily sowing or harvesting at the same time (Vandermeer et al 1998;Malézieux et al 2009). Niggli et al (2009) describe intercropping as an eco-functional intensification practice which has been widely used to boost crop productivity (Qin et al 2013), increase the land utilization ratio (Agegnehu et al 2008) and emit significantly lower amounts of greenhouse gases compared to sole crops (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological principles underlying the increase of productivity achieved by cereal-grain legume intercrops in organic farming. A review

Bedoussac¹,

Journet

Hauggaard-Nielsen

et al. 2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

574

460

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World population is projected to reach over nine billion by the year 2050, and ensuring food security while mitigating environmental impacts represents a major agricultural challenge. Thus, higher productivity must be reached through sustainable production by taking into account climate change, resources rarefaction like phosphorus and water, and losses of fertile lands. Enhancing crop diversity is increasingly recognized as a crucial lever for sustainable agro-ecological development. Growing legumes, a major biological nitrogen source, is also a powerful option to reduce synthetic nitrogen fertilizers use and associated fossil energy consumption. Organic farming, which does not allow the use of chemical, is also regarded as one prototype to enhance the sustainability of modern agriculture while decreasing environmental impacts. Here, we review the potential advantages of eco-functional intensification in organic farming by intercropping cereal and grain legume species sown and harvested together. Our review is based on a literature analysis reinforced with integration of an original dataset of 58 field experiments conducted since 2001 in contrasted pedo-climatic European conditions in order to generalize the findings and draw up common guidelines. The major points are that intercropping lead to: (i) higher and more stable grain yield than the mean sole crops (0.33 versus 0.27 kg m −2 ), (ii) higher cereal protein concentration than in sole crop (11.1 versus 9.8 %), (iii) higher and more stable gross margin than the mean sole crops (702 versus 577€ha −1 ) and (iv) improved use of abiotic resources according to species complementarities for light interception and use of both soil mineral nitrogen and atmospheric N 2 . Intercropping is particularly suited for low-nitrogen availability systems but further mechanistic understanding is required to propose generic crop management procedures. Also, development of this practice must be achieved with the collaboration of value chain actors such as breeders to select cultivars suited to intercropping.

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