title: Crop diversity for yield increase.
abstract: Traditional farming practices suggest that cultivation of a mixture of crop species in the same field through temporal and spatial management may be advantageous in boosting yields and preventing disease, but evidence from large-scale field testing is limited. Increasing crop diversity through intercropping addresses the problem of increasing land utilization and crop productivity. In collaboration with farmers and extension personnel, we tested intercropping of tobacco, maize, sugarcane, potato, wheat and broad bean--either by relay cropping or by mixing crop species based on differences in their heights, and practiced these patterns on 15,302 hectares in ten counties in Yunnan Province, China. The results of observation plots within these areas showed that some combinations increased crop yields for the same season between 33.2 and 84.7% and reached a land equivalent ratio (LER) of between 1.31 and 1.84. This approach can be easily applied in developing countries, which is crucial in face of dwindling arable land and increasing food demand.
authors: Key Laboratory of Agro-Biodiversity and Pest Management of Education Ministry of China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors: Chengyun
authors: C
authors: Li
authors: Xiahong
authors: X
authors: He
authors: Shusheng
authors: S
authors: Zhu
authors: Huiping
authors: H
authors: Zhou
authors: Yunyue
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Yang
authors: Jinxiang
authors: J
authors: Fan
authors: Jincheng
authors: J
authors: Yang
authors: Guibin
authors: G
authors: Wang
authors: Yunfu
authors: Y
authors: Long
authors: Jiayou
authors: J
authors: Xu
authors: Yongsheng
authors: Y
authors: Tang
authors: Gaohui
authors: G
authors: Zhao
authors: Jianrong
authors: J
authors: Yang
authors: Lin
authors: L
authors: Liu
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Sun
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: Xie
authors: Haining
authors: H
authors: Wang
authors: Youyong
authors: Y
authors: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D018556:Crops, Agricultural; D003906:Developing Countries; D017753:Ecosystem; D007887:Fabaceae; D010935:Plant Diseases; D031786:Saccharum; D012621:Seasons; D011198:Solanum tuberosum; D014026:Nicotiana; D014908:Triticum; D003313:Zea mays