Mixed Cropping—a Low Input Agronomic Approach to Sustainability
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Innovative Cropping Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 4229
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable agriculture; cropping systems; energy crops; yield physiology of the main herbaceous field crops; plant nutrition and allelopathy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
One of the key strategies to diversify cropping systems is the cultivation of two or more crops together in the same space at the same time (mixed cropping, intercropping, polyculture, or co-cultivation). These farming systems sprout mutualistic relationships among crops, leading to increased productivity, yield stability and soil health and greater resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. The complementary use of resources, as well as differences for niche occupation in time and space, matters to a greater extent under limiting conditions. However, the efficiency of intercrop is affected by environmental conditions, cropping managements and genotypes and should be site-specifically determined because the interactions between species may prompt significant variations in the intercrop composition and performance.
To fill this gap, with this Special Issue, we aim to enhance knowledge on the context-dependency of interactions in mixed crops, thus facilitating their adoption, primarily in environments where resources are more limiting to crop growth and yield, as the advantages of intercropping are more paramount in low-input agriculture.
We welcome review and research papers, outlooks, opinions and methods to highlight the latest progress on understanding the use of abiotic resources in mixed crops by means of functional interdisciplinarity.
Dr. Silvia Pampana
Prof. Dr. Marco Mariotti
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- competition
- complementarity
- cooperation
- diversification
- intercropping
- low-input
- mixed cropping
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