Intercropping for insect pest management in sustainable agriculture: A review

Abstract

The principles of sustainable agriculture is to design the agricultural landscape by creating and maintaining the diversity of all natural resources in compatible manner. Intercropping is the practice of cultivating two or more crops at the same time in a particular field. Many studies highlight the impacts of intercropping and its contribution to insect management strategies based on population dynamics of the insect species. Spatial combination of mixed and row intercropping, crop rotation play significant impact on reducing insect pest populations, increasing beneficial insects, and weed suppression. In addition, non-crop plants such as weeds, cover crops, and habitat plantings can be combined in space and time to influence numbers of pest and beneficial arthropods on the main crop. However, intercropping has some disadvantages such as the selection of the appropriate crop species and the appropriate sowing densities, including extra work in preparing and planting the seed mixture, during crop management practices, including harvest that can indirectly alter the principles of pest management strategies. This paper provides an overall view and evidence of introducing the concept of crop diversity through intercropping, summarizing its main advantages supported by a number of key examples from the literature, considers recent insights and mechanisms underlying intercropping, and discusses its potential against insect control for implying its great value in the context of sustainable agriculture.