Authors
Victoria GA Chadfield, Sue E Hartley, Kelly R Redeker
Publication date
2022/9
Journal
New Phytologist
Volume
235
Issue
6
Pages
2393-2405
Description
- Associational resistance to herbivore and pathogen attack is a well documented ecological phenomenon and, if applied to agriculture, may reduce impact of pests and diseases on crop yields without recourse to pesticides.
- The value of associational resistance through intercropping, planting multiple crops alongside each other, as a sustainable control method remains unclear, due to variable outcomes reported in the published literature. We performed a meta‐analysis to provide a quantitative assessment of benefits of intercropping for target plant resistance to plant‐parasitic nematodes and soil‐borne diseases.
- We found that intercropping reduced damage to focal crops from nematodes by 40% and disease incidence by 55%. Intercropping efficacy varied with biological variables, such as field fertilisation status and intercrop family, and methodology, including whether study samples were potted or in fields …
Total citations
Scholar articles
Associational resistance through intercropping reduces yield losses to soil‐borne pests and diseases
VGA Chadfield, SE Hartley, KR Redeker - New Phytologist, 2022