Cereal-legume intercropping: basic principles in practice
…The DIVERSify project has worked with researchers and farmers across Europe to gather evidence of different intercrops’ performance and information about optimal management for cereal-legume and grassland crops in different farm and environmental conditions…
Pest, disease and weed reduction in plant teams
…Cereal/legume intercrops can contribute to disease, pest and weed reduction. In all cases, we should keep in mind that these reductions, although significant and beneficial, are not complete, and are influenced by environmental factors…
Close up on weed control using plant teams
…Increased knowledge of the relationships between local weed flora and soil fertilisation practices, spatial arrangements to mitigate the trade-offs between weed control and yields and suitable cultivar choice will help to improve plant team performance with respect to their capacity to suppress weeds and support high crop yields at the same time…
Optimising N fertilisation of plant teams
…A significant reduction of N fertiliser use could be achieved per unit area by intercropping, lowering the risk of underground water pollution due to nitric N leaching, whilst maintaining or even improving the protein content of the cereal…
Grassland production systems
…Optimisation of diverse grassland mixture composition will be achieved by balancing legume and grass species, and varieties, with complementarities in traits…
