Periodic Reporting for period 2 - IntercropValuES (Developing Intercropping for agrifood Value chains and Ecosystem Services delivery in Europe and Southern countries)
Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2025-10-31
Intercropping is a time-tested agricultural practice known for its potential to optimize resource use, reduce pests and diseases naturally, and boost yields sustainably, mostly efficiently in low-input systems. Despite its benefits, its adoption has been limited due to knowledge gaps and the lack of tailored management practices. IntercropVALUES seeks to bridge these gaps by:
1. Innovating Agri-Food Value Chains, by integrating intercropping into modern agri-food systems through 13 Co-Innovation Case Studies (CICS). These case studies explore diverse agricultural settings across Europe and beyond, showcasing how intercropping can be adapted to various local conditions and integrated into existing markets, especially in short value chains.
2. Enhancing understanding of crop-crop Interactions under the 4C concept (Competition, Complementarity, Cooperation = facilitation, and Compensation), by examining the interactions among different crops (genotype), their environment, and management practices, the project aims to identify optimal combinations that maximize productivity and ecosystem benefits.
3. Developing management tools, by creating new tools and strategies to manage intercropping systems effectively. This includes improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and adapting agricultural machinery for intercropping.
4. Assessing climate resilience, by using simulation models to evaluate how intercropping systems can withstand climate variability and enhance resilience against pests and diseases.
5. Improving grain qualities and food market potential, by developing research on the nutritional and functional qualities of grains from intercrops helping to position these products in the food market, offering healthier and more sustainable options.
6. Uncovering key barriers (lock-ins) and levers at the value chain level to boost the transition towards intercropping practices throughout EU agriculture.
1. Innovating Agri-Food Value Chains, by integrating intercropping into modern agri-food systems through 13 Co-Innovation Case Studies (CICS). These case studies explore diverse agricultural settings across Europe and beyond, showcasing how intercropping can be adapted to various local conditions and integrated into existing markets, especially in short value chains.
2. Enhancing understanding of crop-crop Interactions under the 4C concept (Competition, Complementarity, Cooperation = facilitation, and Compensation), by examining the interactions among different crops (genotype), their environment, and management practices, the project aims to identify optimal combinations that maximize productivity and ecosystem benefits.
3. Developing management tools, by creating new tools and strategies to manage intercropping systems effectively. This includes improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and adapting agricultural machinery for intercropping.
4. Assessing climate resilience, by using simulation models to evaluate how intercropping systems can withstand climate variability and enhance resilience against pests and diseases.
5. Improving grain qualities and food market potential, by developing research on the nutritional and functional qualities of grains from intercrops helping to position these products in the food market, offering healthier and more sustainable options.
6. Uncovering key barriers (lock-ins) and levers at the value chain level to boost the transition towards intercropping practices throughout EU agriculture.
The following progress was carried out during the second period of the project:
1. WP1 supports the coordination and leading of 13 Co-Innovation Case Studies (CICS) for boosting value chains for intercropping through action plans, cross-learning workshops, and participatory tools like the Interplay® serious game. Two main achievements were: i) identified six key insights for designing intercrop-based value chains, including the importance of economic incentives, actor engagement, and knowledge dissemination; ii) developed methodologies for scaling intercropping and overcoming barriers.
2. Intercrop productivity and ecosystem services are addressed with a meta-experiment (WP2). Activities were focused on completing two years of field trials across 14 sites in Europe and Africa, focusing on the analysis of agronomic performances and G×G×E×M interactions. Two main achievements were: i) validated protocols for meta-analysis and first-year field data integration in the database, ii) preliminary results confirmed the potential of intercropping to enhance productivity and reduce environmental impacts.
3. Managing intercrops in cropping systems for good performances (WP3). Activities involved in the assessment of soil health indicators, GHG emissions (N2O), conducted on-farm (WP1) and on-experimental station (WP2), and identification of innovative machinery adapted for intercropping. Three main achievements were: i) developed a soil health scorecard prototype, ii) first results indicating contrasted effects of intercropping on N2O emissions among sites and treatments, and iii) identified three farmer strategies for machinery adaptation: frugal, standardized, and flexible designs.
4. Modelling intercrop performance using adapted numeric models is crucial for understanding plant-plan interactions and further optimize their cropping (WP4). Activities focused on calibration of models (STICS, FLORSYS, FSPM) to simulate intercrop dynamics, resource competition, and disease/weed regulation, and for linking experimental data with virtual scenarios. In addition to the calibrated model, two other achievements were: i) successfully coupled STICS-MILA for disease modelling in intercropping, and ii) improved FLORSYS for weed suppression.
5. Innovation in the intercrop food chain is essential for food processing adaptation and market access (WP5). Activities focused on analysing grain quality (macro/micronutrients, mycotoxins), effectiveness of processed intercrop-based foods (bread, biscuits, extruded snacks), and consumer acceptance. Two main achievements were: i) confirmation that intercropping maintains or improves grain quality (e.g. higher protein in cereals), ii) developed NIRS/HSI models to predict legume content in flour mixtures and authenticated cereal-legume products (e.g. in wheat-lentil).
6. Unleashing intercrop potential by identifying current barriers and market opportunities is necessary for enhancing adoption in value chains (WP6). Two main achievements were: i) cost-benefit frameworks and business models, and ii) proposed a set of solutions to address priority barriers (e.g. standardization, marketing, post-harvest handling).
1. WP1 supports the coordination and leading of 13 Co-Innovation Case Studies (CICS) for boosting value chains for intercropping through action plans, cross-learning workshops, and participatory tools like the Interplay® serious game. Two main achievements were: i) identified six key insights for designing intercrop-based value chains, including the importance of economic incentives, actor engagement, and knowledge dissemination; ii) developed methodologies for scaling intercropping and overcoming barriers.
2. Intercrop productivity and ecosystem services are addressed with a meta-experiment (WP2). Activities were focused on completing two years of field trials across 14 sites in Europe and Africa, focusing on the analysis of agronomic performances and G×G×E×M interactions. Two main achievements were: i) validated protocols for meta-analysis and first-year field data integration in the database, ii) preliminary results confirmed the potential of intercropping to enhance productivity and reduce environmental impacts.
3. Managing intercrops in cropping systems for good performances (WP3). Activities involved in the assessment of soil health indicators, GHG emissions (N2O), conducted on-farm (WP1) and on-experimental station (WP2), and identification of innovative machinery adapted for intercropping. Three main achievements were: i) developed a soil health scorecard prototype, ii) first results indicating contrasted effects of intercropping on N2O emissions among sites and treatments, and iii) identified three farmer strategies for machinery adaptation: frugal, standardized, and flexible designs.
4. Modelling intercrop performance using adapted numeric models is crucial for understanding plant-plan interactions and further optimize their cropping (WP4). Activities focused on calibration of models (STICS, FLORSYS, FSPM) to simulate intercrop dynamics, resource competition, and disease/weed regulation, and for linking experimental data with virtual scenarios. In addition to the calibrated model, two other achievements were: i) successfully coupled STICS-MILA for disease modelling in intercropping, and ii) improved FLORSYS for weed suppression.
5. Innovation in the intercrop food chain is essential for food processing adaptation and market access (WP5). Activities focused on analysing grain quality (macro/micronutrients, mycotoxins), effectiveness of processed intercrop-based foods (bread, biscuits, extruded snacks), and consumer acceptance. Two main achievements were: i) confirmation that intercropping maintains or improves grain quality (e.g. higher protein in cereals), ii) developed NIRS/HSI models to predict legume content in flour mixtures and authenticated cereal-legume products (e.g. in wheat-lentil).
6. Unleashing intercrop potential by identifying current barriers and market opportunities is necessary for enhancing adoption in value chains (WP6). Two main achievements were: i) cost-benefit frameworks and business models, and ii) proposed a set of solutions to address priority barriers (e.g. standardization, marketing, post-harvest handling).
The main results after 36 months of the project are the following:
1. Advanced Modelling: development of novel simulation models that can predict intercropping performance under varying conditions, providing farmers with data-driven insights to enhance their practices.
2. Enhanced Intercrop Combinations: first identification of optimal crop combinations and management strategies that improve productivity and ecosystem services compared to traditional sole crops.
3. New Management Tools: first list of innovative tools and methods for intercropping, including machinery adaptations and soil health improvement techniques.
4. Demonstration activities in CICS: Field demonstrations to showcase the benefits of intercropping to a broader audience, encouraging widespread adoption.
5. Market Access and Commercialization: identification of strategies to integrate intercropping products into existing value chains and markets, supported by robust economic analysis.
1. Advanced Modelling: development of novel simulation models that can predict intercropping performance under varying conditions, providing farmers with data-driven insights to enhance their practices.
2. Enhanced Intercrop Combinations: first identification of optimal crop combinations and management strategies that improve productivity and ecosystem services compared to traditional sole crops.
3. New Management Tools: first list of innovative tools and methods for intercropping, including machinery adaptations and soil health improvement techniques.
4. Demonstration activities in CICS: Field demonstrations to showcase the benefits of intercropping to a broader audience, encouraging widespread adoption.
5. Market Access and Commercialization: identification of strategies to integrate intercropping products into existing value chains and markets, supported by robust economic analysis.