Intercropping - the practical application of diversity, competition, and facilitation in arable and organic cropping systems

Abstract

Intercropping (IC) is the simultaneous cultivation of more than one crop species on the same piece of land. The IC practice offers many advantages to organic agriculture in terms of resource use, yield stability, weed management and increased diversification of agroecosystems. Field experiments carried out at two sites in Denmark over three consequetive cropping seasons showed that ICs of cereals and grain legumes gave higher yields, less weeds, lower infection with plant diseases and higher grain quality compared to corresponding sole crops.