Diversification improves the performance of cereals in European cropping systems

Reckling Moritz, Albertsson Johannes, Vermue Anthony, Carlsson Georg, Watson Christine, Justes Eric, Bergkvist Göran, Steen Jensen Erik, Topp Cairistiona F. E.. 2022. Diversification improves the performance of cereals in European cropping systems. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 42:118, 14 p.

Résumé : In the face of climate change, cropping systems need to achieve a high performance, providing food and feed and adapting to variable environmental conditions. Diversification of cropping systems can support ecosystem services and associated biodiversity, but there is little evidence on which temporal field arrangement affects the performance of crop yields (productivity and stability), partly due to a lack of long-term data and appropriate indicators. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effect of cropping system diversification on yield stability, environmental adaptability, and the probability of diversified systems to outperform less diverse cereal-based systems in Europe. Spring and winter cereal yields were analyzed from long-term field experiments from Sweden, Scotland, and France. We investigated diversification through (i) introduction of perennial leys, (ii) increasing the proportion of ley in the rotation, (iii) varying the order in which crops are positioned in the rotation, (iv) introduction of grain legumes, and (v) introduction of cover crops. The results showed that cereal crops within cropping systems incorporating perennial leys outperformed systems without leys in 60–94% of the comparisons with higher probabilities at low fertilizer intensities. The yield stability of oat did not differ, but mean yields were 33% higher, when grown directly after the ley compared to oat grown two years later in the crop sequence under similar management. Durum wheat grown in a cropping system with grain legumes had higher yields in lower-yielding environmental conditions compared to rotations without legumes. Diversification with cover crops did not significantly affect yield stability. We conclude that diverse cropping systems can increase cereal productivity and environmental adaptability and are more likely to outperform less diverse systems especially when introducing perennial forage legumes into arable systems. Effects of diversification on cereal yield stability were inconsistent indicating that higher productivity is achievable without reducing yield variability. These novel findings can support the design of more diverse and high-performing cropping systems.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : diversification, rendement des cultures, système de culture, changement climatique, adaptation aux changements climatiques, facteur du milieu, impact sur l'environnement, légume sec, rotation culturale, plante céréalière, plante de couverture

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : France, Écosse

Mots-clés libres : Cover crops, Taylor’s power law, Legumes, Rotation, Stabilité of performances

Champ stratégique Cirad : CTS 2 (2019-) - Transitions agroécologiques

Auteurs et affiliations

• Reckling Moritz, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (DEU) - auteur correspondant
• Albertsson Johannes, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SWE)
• Vermue Anthony, INRAE (FRA)
• Carlsson Georg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SWE)
• Watson Christine, SRUC (GBR)
• Justes Eric, CIRAD-DG-Direction générale (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0001-7390-7058
• Bergkvist Göran, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SWE)
• Steen Jensen Erik, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SWE)
• Topp Cairistiona F. E., SRUC (GBR)

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/603156/)

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