The goal of the LEGUMINOSE project is to establish intercropping as a climate-smart farming practice. For this, the project will investigate the benefits of intercropping beyond the well-studied effects on nitrogen dynamics, identify the obstacles to adoption of intercropping, and provide farmers across the EU with accessible, actionable, and science-based information for a profitable and sustainable agricultural transformation. The trials conducted as part of the project will study a range of soil management approaches (e.g., conventional and organic systems) to see how each affects intercropping. This and the chosen intercropping approach, for example, alternate-row cropping, multiple-row, or mixed intercropping, will be left to the participating farmers to decide and will depend on each farm’s seeding and harvesting techniques.
The project’s two-pronged approach relies on research and demonstration. To assess the potential of intercropping, data from seven research fields across Europe will be collected and used to develop forecasting models based on artificial intelligence. The results will be embedded into an interactive, web-based tool to support farmers in selecting the optimal intercrops combination for their specific needs. To overcome barriers to intercropping implementation, a network of 180 on-farm living labs will be established in different pedo-climatic zones across Europe, Egypt, and Pakistan. These living labs will act as “lighthouses” in the region, demonstrating the economic, environmental and social benefits of intercropping.
The project’s ultimate aim is to transform legume-cereal intercropping from a niche practice to a mainstream method.
