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EU CAP Network Focus Group ‘Crop associations including Milpa and protein crops'

This report presents the main results of the EU CAP Network Focus Group ‘Crop associations including Milpa and protein crops'.

  • 2023-2027
a green field of wheat

The EU CAP Network Focus Group on crop associations addressed the question ‘How to integrate crop associations into existing cropping systems and farm landscapes to increase farm resilience and efficient use of natural resources while reducing the dependency on external inputs?

An analysis of published literature and reports identified at least 90 crop association types practiced in arable, horticulture and agroforestry systems across the pedo-climatic zones of Europe. These included crop associations grown traditionally or reinvigorated for current systems in Europe, and new crop associations suitable for adapting to changing climatic and market conditions. Good practice examples included strip cropping, cover crops, forage/fodder crops, intercropped protein crops, agro/silvo-pastoral systems, and using crop associations as a ‘precision cropping’ tool. Crop associations were perceived to provide specific ecosystem services, such as greater biodiversity, and improved pest control and soil fertility, although the impacts on air and water quality were less understood. The economic outcomes were uncertain, although fewer agro-inputs, improved yield stability, and increased land use efficiency are often reported, and have the potential to increase profitability.

Success factors of implementing crop associations included their potential for reducing external inputs, diversifying the farm business, increasing income from subsidies, using land more efficiently, and spreading the farming workload throughout the year. Agronomic, economic and social barriers to uptake included the perceived additional complexity of managing diversified cropping systems, and potentially higher costs and labour, creating reluctance to invest effort when returns are uncertain.

Innovative practices or mechanisms to overcome the challenges of crop associations and encourage uptake included novel ways to:

  • Mechanise crop associations by making use of existing equipment, with machinery adaptations as and where needed, and also by tapping into the practical experiences of others engaged in crop mechanisations
  • Adapt breeding and variety testing schemes to test mixing ability that allow suitable plant cultivars and varieties to be identified
  • Add value to crop association produce to increase economic viability
  • Introduce crop association practices gradually using practices that provide ‘stepping stones’ in the transition from monocrops
  • Seek out existing knowledge from a variety of information sources using systematic search strategies

Needs from research and practice focused on developing basic principles for growing crop associations, selecting crop varieties suited to crop associations, making equipment affordable and accessible, and developing markets for crop association produce. Popular ideas for operational groups were testing mobile seed cleaners and separators, developing agronomic protocols for specific crop associations and novel digital tools for information sharing, and participatory evaluation of crop varieties for crop association mixing ability in national testing schemes.

Author(s)

EU CAP Network

Resources

Documents

English language

EU CAP Network Focus Group ‘Crop associations including Milpa and protein crops'

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