The use of mixed species cropping to manage pests and diseases – theory and practice

This paper was presented at the UK organic research 2002 on behalf of colloquium of Organic Researchers (COR). Mixed species cropping is often perceived as a viable tool to increase on-farm biodiversity in organic agriculture and is a potentially important component of any sustainable cropping system. Apart from increasing total farm productivity, mixed species cropping can bring many important benefits such as improvement of soil fertility management and suppression of pests and/or diseases. In this sense it can be seen as performing different eco-services in the farm system. This paper discusses mixed cropping in this context while focusing on its potential and actual use as a tool to manage pests and diseases in organic farming systems.