Tuesday, April 30, 2024
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Intercropping diversifies crops to improve yields. A pioneering Catalan watermelon producer has been using flowers for years to keep aphids at bay
Source: Colpisa
It all started with aphids. VerdCamp Fruits in Cambrils, Tarragona province, had been using chemical insecticides to fight this pest plaguing their watermelons, but they weren’t able to get it fully under control. Between 20 to 30% of the aphids survived, reproduced, and struck again. Monoculture was on their side. “When there’s a single species, all insects and pests will affect it,” explains Ernest Mas, in charge of the farm’s regenerative plots. Diversifying could change things. As surprising as it may seem, flowers had the solution to the problem.
“We needed to break away from monoculture and create an environment that makes it possible for beneficial native fauna to survive,” Mas says. First they tried planting about 30 floral species on the paths, observing what happened and which species they attracted. Would flowers be able to attract their aphid enemies and become sentinels of the watermelon fields?
They then chose the three that could work for their purposes. These flowers would bring diversity to their watermelon crops and help establish an ecosystem that could regulate pests on its own. VerdCamp Fruits became pioneers: their approach, which as Mas notes was unprecedented at the time, was intercropping, or combining species on their farm to achieve better yields.
For several years now, they’ve been planting flowers at the same time as watermelons, using the former as sentinels for the latter. This means they don't have to use insecticides, which frees the land from chemicals and also saves money. “If a chemical insecticide to fight aphids costs on average 50 euros per hectare, plus you need machinery that costs around 40 euros, we’re talking about 90 to 100 euros,” Mas calculates. When you consider that previously they may have needed to spray 3 to 5 times per harvest and that now they only plant flowers once, spending 40 to 50 euros, the math couldn’t be clearer.
Flowers not only reduce costs, but also expand the biodiversity of those fields. For example, they have increased the presence of bees, which first improves pollination and then production. There are also more butterflies and other beneficial species. The Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), which included this farm in its Regenera.cat project, notes that planting flowers can improve the soil’s capacity to store water and CO2.
This approach to working the land also comes with advantages that, though intangible, have a very real impact on farmers. Mas feels there are emotional benefits. “The fields should be beautiful and look beautiful,” he says, and that’s not the case with monoculture. For those who spend their days among rows of watermelons, this matters.
It’s no surprise, then, that mixing crops is becoming popular. When VerdCamp Fruits started intercropping, they didn’t have many experts they could turn to for questions, but things are different now, and people are carrying out research and experiments in this area. Intercropping could be the answer to many of the questions that farmers are asking themselves in this climate emergency, from how to cope with drought to how to maintain a balance with the environment and protect ecosystems.
“Change is difficult, but necessary,” Mas concludes. “Agriculture as we know it is not profitable. We have to make changes, bold changes.” The climate emergency is forcing us to rethink what's being done, what’s not working, the impact it has on the environment, and how things could be done better.
One of these ongoing studies is the Leguminose project, coordinated by the University of Florence and taking place all over Europe. The goal is to analyze the potential of mixing legumes and grains. In fact, project participants recently gathered in Spain, at an event organized by the Spanish partners, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA), to track progress.
There are currently 7 trials underway in Europe, with 150 “living labs” (11 in Spain) where associations between barley, vetch, wheat, ervil, beans, and chickpeas are being tested. The idea is to recover the benefits legumes bring to soil structure. Although legume planting has been on the decline in recent decades, intercropping could be another one of the many benefits that encourage farmers to take it up again.
The potential of regenerative agriculture
All of these ideas are part of what is known as regenerative agriculture, which restores the land while cultivating it. The aforementioned Regenera.cat project, through CREAF, seeks to expand it, using as a model the experiences of four Catalan farms that are already implementing this approach. Verdcamp Fruits, with their commitment to intercropping, is one of them. “The goal is to work with farmers to assess the potential of the regenerative model at different scales in addressing major environmental challenges,” says Javier Retana, professor of ecology and lead researcher for the project. They will monitor soil quality, crop productivity, and the presence of wildlife. But if these four farms are any indication, we can already anticipate that this method will lead to greater biodiversity and more fertile, rich soils.
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