"I expect about 30% more yield from the mixture"

2 crops: what’s the difference? G.J. Whiteford is one of the farmers involved in the UK MAP. Read what about his experience with intercropping. 10 more MultiActor Plataforms (MAPs) in Europe are trying combinations and monitoring the results. 

"The first photo is of a crop of barley, oats and peas grown on our organic ground and is the height of my waist. It has received no synthetic fertiliser or chemical pesticides. Growing a diversity of crops together improves the agronomy by reducing pest, disease and weed pressure, it also improves soil structure as there’s a diversity of roots. This crop will be combined and will produce a perfect blend to feed our cows over the winter producing organic milk all from home grown grass and cereals".

"The second picture is of a single crop of spring barley growing on arable ground which we started converting to organic last year. It’s not even the height of my knees. The soil essentially has to go through 2 years of rehab to wean it off the synthetic fertilisers and chemicals it has become used to. This ground has continuously been used to grow barley year after year with no diversity".

"Lots of research is now coming out showing that growing a diversity of crops together with no inputs is more productive than single species crops with high inputs. I expect about 30% more yield from the mixture".