Crop Varietal Mixtures as a Strategy to Support Insect Pest Control, Yield, Economic, and Nutritional Services

Most on-farm diversification strategies to enhance ecosystem services, such as insect pest control and yield, have focused on expanding crop species diversity. While polycultures often provide valuable services, logistical constraints with planting and harvesting can hamper implementation on large scales. An alternative diversification strategy is to increase within-field intraspecific crop diversity through the use of crop varietal mixtures. Here, authors evaluate an interdisciplinary body of research to determine the potential for crop varietal mixtures to support food security by providing ecological, economic, and nutritional services. Taken together, their review suggests that varietal mixtures are a promising and logistically feasible strategy that could simultaneously support multiple services.