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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419590
Research Project: Developing, Evaluating, and Optimizing Diversified Agricultural Systems for a Changing Environment in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Location: Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory

Title: Cropping system diversification effects on yield and yield stability

Author
item BOWLES, TIMOTHY - University Of California Berkeley
item BYBEE-FINLEY, ANN - North Carolina State University
item Muller, Katherine
item White, Kathryn
item Cavigelli, Michel
item Han, Eun Jin
item Schomberg, Harry
item VIENS, FREDERI - Rice University

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/2025
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Reliance on specialized, simplified cropping systems, has heightened the vulnerability of industrial agricultural production to perturbations already increasing with climate change, such as droughts, floods, and other stressors. We examine how cropping system diversification, such as crop rotation and intercropping, affect yield, yield stability, and risk. Based on both observational and long-term field studies, we show that cropping system diversification not only generally increases yields but also increases various metrics of yield stability and mitigates general and specific risks associated with climate stressors. Mechanisms underlying these effects vary with scale and include complementarity, facilitation (including via enhanced soil health), and the portfolio effect. Diversifying cropping systems will require creating enabling conditions and dismantling structural barriers, including integrating the value of risk reduction into agricultural finance and insurance systems. Future research needs include multiple metrics of whole system functioning and actuarially-sound information on risk reduction from diversified cropping systems.