ReMIX-DIVERSify Conference gathered 300 participants to discuss "Intercropping to boost agroecology in European Agriculture"

The final conference was a perfect opportunity for maximizing the outreach of the outcomes of the 4-year ReMIX project. During the morning session, ReMIX experts proposed solutions and recommendations to boost the adoption of intercropping and delivering its ecosystem services and discussed how to support the wider use and uptake of intercropping by farmers. In particular, the 5 policy briefs that ReMIX project partners are currently producing were presented and discussed with the contribution of the crop diversification cluster.

The presentations of the 5 policy briefs are available here:

• Policy brief 1: Intercropping – Redesigned cropping strategies for food production and environmental services 

• Policy brief 2: Intercropping for boosting organic farming in Europe 

• Policy brief 3: Contribution of intercropping to pesticide use reduction 

• Policy brief 4: Improved support for intercropping will reduce fertilizer inputs and nutrient losses 

• Policy brief 5: Harvesting and separating crop mixtures: yes we can 

To advocate for the adoption of intercropping at the EU level, 2 policy debates were held in the afternoon session. Policymakers, representative of the European Commission and the crop diversification cluster discussed the contribution of species mixtures in shifting towards more sustainable food systems and ecosystems’ preservation. Particular focus was given to the role of intercropping in the EU’s agri-food chains and agroecology within the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. Several interventions stressed that the adoption of intercropping does not depend on farmers alone but that new value chains should be set up. Furthermore, strong collaboration among all actors is needed to achieve this goal while public policies are also very important. In that respect, the CAP offers opportunities to support species mixtures and the use of intercropping by the Member States should be encouraged.

While the ReMIX final conference “Intercropping to boost agroecology in European Agriculture” was a joint effort of the 2 Horizon 2020 projects: ReMIX and DIVERSify, the EU crop diversification cluster contributed to the discussions of the event both with presentations and panel discussions. The EU crop diversification cluster brings together research projects operating in countries across Europe to increase the impact of crop diversification research. The cluster encourages sustained uptake of diversification measures by European farmers and through innovations across the agri-value chain. In addition to ReMIX, there are five other projects in the cluster - Diverfarming, DiverIMPACTS, DIVERSify, LegValue, and TRUE

Find here the presentations of the conference:

Keynote and general presentation, by Eric Justes and Jean-Noel Aubertot 

Conclusions, by Eric Justes and Ali Karley 

Presentation by DIVERSify project 

Presentation by DiverIMPACTS project 

presentation by Diverfarming project