AUTHORS: Clementine Antier and Philippe Baret (SYTRA research group, UCLouvain), and Elisabet Nadeu (IEEP)
Crop diversification can enhance agricultural productivity, ecosystem services and resilience in EU farming systems. A review of the research outcomes from nine EU-funded projects showcases barriers to its adoption and suggests 17 priorities to overcome remaining challenges and contribute to supporting an agroecological transition.
Crop diversification – the increase in space and time of in-field crop diversity – is recognised as a central strategy to improve productivity and resilience of cropping systems, as well as benefit ecosystem services (e.g., biodiversity conservation, water quality preservation, enhance natural pest and disease control, improved soil quality, and climate change mitigation). It is a strategic approach to effectively boost an effective agroecological transition of EU farming systems.
This research brief explores the state of crop diversification and the barriers and opportunities for its further uptake, drawing on the findings from nine EU-funded projects since 2017. Key outcomes from the projects include the development of new knowledge, tools, and frameworks, such as typologies of innovation settings and diversification pathways. These typologies demonstrate that crop diversification can be applied in various contexts, ranging from short to long value chains and in organic and conventional farming.
The barriers to the widespread adoption of diversified cropping systems are related to inputs, knowledge, support and advice, technical, economic, socio-cultural, and organizational aspects. These barriers are context-specific, interconnected, and occur simultaneously at multiple levels along the supply chains.
To overcome barriers, the research brief outlines a Research & Innovation (R&I) agenda with 17 priorities, advocating for a coordinated approach to accelerate the uptake of crop diversification in farming systems at the upstream, midstream and downstream stages of value chains. This is based on the policy briefs published by the selected research projects, relevant deliverables, and advice from a Scientific Committee.
The recommendations include integrating these research priorities into the next Research Framework Program as well as enhancing the Common Agricultural Policy to better support crop diversification. Three key factors identified for crop diversification to contribute to a paradigm shift towards agroecology are multi-actor participation, strategic scales of action, and the appropriate size of farms and value chains.
Read the brief here.
Cover photo by Luca J on Unsplash
