Using intercropping systems for sustainable global agricultural production

With the increasing food demands of a growing world population, it is essential to increase agricultural production while reducing its environmental footprint. Crop diversification techniques have often been proposed as agroecological solutions to achieve this goal. Among them, intercropping—the growth of several crop species in the same fields—seems to be particularly promising. This practice has always been uncommon in Europe and, although it has traditionally been used in countries of the Global South, it is currently declining due to urbanization and migration of rural populations.