A new study has found that implementing strategies such as rotating crops, conserving soil nutrients, and diversifying agriculture simultaneously can yield significant benefits for both the environment and people.
The study, Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture, which was published in the Science journal, involved researchers from more than 15 countries, taking in data from 2,655 farms on five continents.
“This is evidence that this can actually work—we can imagine agricultural systems that are more diverse and serve people and nature at the same time,” commented Zia Mehrabi, a co-author of the study and assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Move away from monoculture
The study comes as many farms around the world are increasingly adopting a ‘monoculture’ approach, focusing on one type of crop or animal, which may bring with it a wide range of risks, including the loss of soil nutrients and spreading pest outbreaks.
This should serve as a ‘stark message’ to both those working in agriculture, as well as governments and society at large.
“Drop monoculture and industrial thinking and diversify the way you farm—it pays off,” added Laura Vang Rasmussen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark who, along with Ingo Grass of the University of Hohenheim in Germany, served as lead author of the paper.
Agricultural diversification encompasses various strategies aimed at cultivating more than one crop on a single farm over multiple years.
For instance, farmers may rotate between planting corn, beans, and okra in successive years. Alternatively, they might sow cover crops during the off-season to prevent soil erosion or promote the growth of earthworm populations underground.
However, as part of the study, the researchers found that farmers can unlock numerous benefits by implementing multiple agricultural solutions concurrently, rather than relying on individual strategies alone.
Read more: Regenerative Innovation Portfolio to harness the potential for regenerative agriculture in Europe
‘How ecosystems operate’
“If you look at how ecosystems operate, it’s not just plants growing alone. It’s not just animals or soil,” said Mehrabi. “It’s all of these things working together.”
Diverse farms are better equipped to withstand natural disasters such as droughts or heat waves, the study found.
Additionally, the benefits can be more nuanced. For instance, small-scale farmers who intersperse fruit trees among their crops can consume the fruit themselves while selling the surplus harvest.
The full study can be found here.
