WRI Webinar – Dr Penny Roberts

Dr Penny Roberts  – The growing interest in mixed species cropping

SARDI Agronomy and School of Ag, Food and Wine

Abstract: There is growing farmer interest in mixed species cropping driven by the need for a more resilient and diverse system, particularly in our low to medium rainfall zones. Intercropping is the practice of sowing two or more crops on the same piece of land at the same time, traditionally the aim of this practice has been to produce a greater yield than growing monoculture crops. Recent experimental data from 9 field experiments with up to 8 intercrop combinations, 43% of combinations over-yielded, with yield gains of 29 to 120% for chickpea-canola, lentil-canola and vetch-canola combinations. There is also growing interest in these systems for the other documented benefits including reduced input costs, reduced incidence of disease, improved resource-use efficiency, rotational benefits and longer-term soil improvement. Experimental results and early adoption has demonstrated that intercropping has the potential to increase both productivity and gross margin return in low to medium rainfall environments of South Australia.