StripES: Strip cropping for harnessing ecosystem services - a farm-scale system design

Moving away from sole cropping, where crop species are grown in large-scale pure stands, by enhancing in-field crop diversity holds promise to promote biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services such as biological pest control by harnessing the niche complementarity of crop species. This may in turn increase yields and/or reduce the reliance on pesticides.

However, a critical question is if strip cropping under practically applicable management, such as growing two or more crops in strips that are wide enough to be managed with conventional machinery, still generates the benefits of crop diversity. Together with my home and host institutions, I will design strip cropping applicable to farm-scale in Sweden.

In a replicated field experiment, I will assess if strip cropping of economically important crops can strengthen biological pest control, reduce pesticide inputs, and maintain crop yields compared to sole cropping. By following the effects over three years in sprayed and unsprayed areas, I will be able to assess legacy effects.

I will validate the on-station experiment with on-farm farmer led trials, where farmers decide strip width and management.

Through participatory research and farmer interviews, I will assess benefits and costs of strip cropping that might facilitate or impede adoption at farm scale.

StripES will broaden my perspective from working with individual crops to cropping systems, and through collaboration with stakeholders.