Intercropping—the practice of planting mixtures of crops—can be an effective pest management tool worldwide, a new University of Florida study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology shows.
Intercropping—the practice of planting mixtures of crops—can be an effective pest management tool worldwide, a new University of Florida study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology shows.
The analysis compiled results from 44 field studies across six continents and focused on four crop types—cabbage, squash, cotton and onion—planted on their own and mixed with a companion plant species. In these studies, scientists recorded 272 total occurrences of 35 different species of plant-eating insects on crops, representing one of the most comprehensive evaluations of intercropping effectiveness across the globe.
« Overall, intercropping proved to be very effective against pests, but it did vary based on the pest and their feed preferences, » said Philip Hahn, assistant professor in the UF/IFAS entomology and nematology department, who led the study. « It also depended on crop type, with cabbage and squashes showing the strongest resistance, while resistance was less strong for onions and cotton.
