Crop mixtures: yield responses to climate and management and impacts on seed and soil chemical composition in a Scottish-based study

Abstract

Introduction

Crop mixtures can be an important part of the toolkit for maintaining crop production while addressing the climate and nature crises. However, uncertainties around some issues may prevent their uptake.

Research question

This study addressed several uncertainties, specifically the response of mixture yields to climate and management, and the impacts of mixed cropping on seed chemical composition, soil carbon and nutrients.

Materials and methods

We undertook 32 intercropping trials between 2020 and 2022 on both commercial and research farms. These varied in design, management and crop combinations, with mixture choice often determined by farmers. We assessed multiple responses including yield, weed cover, and seed and soil chemical composition.

Results and conclusions

When compared to monocultures, yield gains from growing a crop mixture were roughly 20% based on Crop Performance Ratio (CPR). We found limited impacts of mixture diversity and composition on seed chemical composition, influences of management on weed control, and enhanced crop mixture performance under cooler conditions with lower rainfall. We also found varying mixture performance depending on mixture composition. Importantly, irrespective of management, climate, and composition effects, crop mixtures always performed at least as well as expectations based on monocultures. Even without further refinement from, for example, targeted breeding, crop mixtures provide reliable crops without yield losses or (for parameters tested) substantial changes in seed chemistry. However, detected reductions in organic matter in upper soil layers indicate a priority for future research is understanding crop mixture impacts on soil carbon dynamics in both shallow and deep soils.