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Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy

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  • Publication | 2020

Benefits of crop diversification for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Global Food and Nutrition Security

This article analyses the results of 5,662 experiments covering more than 120 crops and 85 countries. The crop diversification strategies analysed in the literature are diverse and are regrouped into five broad categories (i.e., agroforestry, associated plants, intercropping, crop rotation and cultivar mixture). Our exhaustive literature synthesis shows that overall, crop diversification significantly enhances crop yields (median effect +13%), associated biodiversity (+24%), and several ecosystem services including water quality (+84%), pest and disease control (+63%), and soil quality (+11%).