Scaling up from plant-plant interactions to field and farm
Designing mixed cropping systems
Researcher
Hilde Faber
PhD candidate
Wageningen University & Research
Nature has always been a source of wonder and inspiration for me. Hence the choice to study Biology and later Plant Sciences in Wageningen. Here, I increasingly came into contact with themes such as agriculture and sustainability. I was immediately intrigued by strip cropping, because it is a cultivation system with many potential positive effects for both farmer and nature. On top of that, it appealed to me that strip farming is already applicable and practised. However, the transition to sustainable agriculture requires a transformation of the entire chain. That is what makes CropMix so interesting. Here, various scientific disciplines and partners from the food chain come together to develop knowledge about the ecological principles that make cultivation systems both sustainable and productive.
Research project
Project: 1.3.2. Designing mixed cropping systems
In collaboration with the farmers involved in CropMix, I want to work on the current challenges of strip cropping, based on both my own questions and those of the farmers. I want to zoom out from crops to whole fields to discover how strip cropping works at the system level. Are yields more stable than in mono cropping? How much complexity is needed in the field? And are there trade-offs between the different ecosystem services provided by strip cropping? I will be working with these questions in my PhD over the next five years.
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Related projects
- Scaling up from plant to field level > Franca Bongers
- Insect biodiversity
- Farmland birds and strip cropping > Rik Waenink
- Environmental indicators > Cristina Malaga Lopez
Results and news
More information and news on this project will follow.
Researchers involved
- Bob Douma
- Dirk van Apeldoorn
- Erik Poelman
Related research
- Scaling up from plant to field level
- Insect biodiversity
- Farmland birds and strip cropping
- Environmental indicators > Cristina Malaga Lopez
Our work packages
This work package focuses on above-ground and below-ground interactions. We look at the interactions between plants, crops, insects and other species living in the field and the differences between strip cropping and monocultures.
Work package 2 looks at the economic feasibility of investments for farmers to switch to more crop-diverse systems, such as strip farming, and what factors influence their willingness to engage in ecologically sound farming.
We want to identify different transition pathways applicable to different situations. Think of farmers with wide strips and long value chains, but also farmers with narrow strips marketing in a short chain. Or perhaps very different cropping systems that use crop diversity, such as agroforestry. We also look at what consumers and other stakeholders think and their role in the transition to more sustainable agriculture.