Crop diversification and soil biodiversity

Crop diversification is an agricultural management strategy that includes practices such as crop rotation, multiple cropping, mixed cropping and agroforestry. Crop diversification may be employed by smallholder farmers in order to reduce their vulnerability in the face of a global environmental change, as well as provide economic, social, nutritional and environmental benefits. At the same time, strong links between the above- and belowground diversity have been well established. In particular, plant diversity, can influence soil conditions and have positive impacts on belowground communities and processes, while substituting for costly agricultural inputs. Meanwhile, soil biodiversity performs ecosystem services, and provides soil functions, that are essential for plant growth and agricultural productivity. Crop diversification could become an essential tool for sustaining production and ecosystem services in croplands, and should be considered an important management strategy in the context of soil sustainability and food security. However, there is still a need to identify crops and varieties that are suited to a multitude of environments and farmer preferences. To tackle this problem, participatory approaches like the initiative Agroecosystem Living Laboratories (ALL), which aims for the assessment of new and existing agricultural practices and technologies to improve their effectiveness and early adoption, should be implemented.