Improving crop yield stability by intercropping (ReMIX Practice abstract)

Summary

Outcome
In 2018, pea and oat in sole and intercrop were exposed to severe drought. On intercropped fields, the peas did not survive, but the oat harvest was 86 % of the oat sole crop yield.
Practical recommendations
• Intercropping is highly relevant for grain legume production in organic farming systems, other low input systems, but also conventional systems.
• Over three years of conventional field experiments, sole cropped peas yield variability was more than twice that of barley.
• N-fertilization reduced the yield variation in barley.
• The of the intercrop’s yield was moderate compared to the sole crops.
• Intercropping can have a major economic impact at the farm scale, especially in drought years, by ensuring a certain amount of production under environmental stresses.
• Farmers also benefit from additional advantages of inter-cropping.
Practical testing/ Farmers’ experiences
Farmers or advisory organizations interested in determining the stabilizing effect of intercropping in stressful environments can monitor grain yields of sole crops and intercrops over at least three years and determine the variation.