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Intercropping study shows soil and yield benefits

A study proves intercropping, or having multiple mutually-beneficial crops growing at the same time helps produce more biomass and healthier soil.  Dr. Jose Franco tells Brownfield you also produce more food per land unit and get other benefits.  “We saw in some instances where the shading from different crops, having the different crops in the mixture can actually reduce soil temperatures.  We saw reduced water stress in peanut in one year of the study, so there’s definitely some benefits to having these species planted together.”

Franco says intercropping is a lot more labor-intensive, and, he says it’s a lot of trial and error.  “So, it’s really just a matter of playing around with the planting dates, and also playing around with different crops that you want to plug into the system.”

 

And, Franco says they observed another benefit.  “Some of these crops really attracted a lot of pollinators and various beneficial insects, so from a sort-of entomology standpoint, you can get some real benefits from this type of system.”

Franko spent three years at Texas A&M growing peanuts, watermelon, okra, cowpea and hot peppers together in raised beds.

 

He says the “three sisters” method of intercropping pioneered by native Americans works by having a crop that helps support another crop, with a third crop that smothers weeds.