Intercropping offers hope for global food security

Just out 24 March 2026
A wide-ranging meta-analysis based on data from 60 countries, conducted by scientists from CIRAD and published in the journal Nature Sustainable Agriculture, demonstrates the untapped potential of intercropping. This cropping practice could well be a major lever for boosting food security worldwide, against a backdrop of growing land use and climate constraints.
Intercropping peppers and cassava in Senegal © R. Belmin, CIRAD

Intercropping peppers and cassava in Senegal © R. Belmin, CIRAD

Intercropping, which consists in planting several crops side-by-side in a given plot, is a pillar of agroecological transition. By making use of the positive interactions between plants, it has major potential to transform food systems sustainably.

Potential that has at last been pinpointed

A recent study was based on a vast database of 4195 observations from 334 studies in 60 countries.

By deciphering the mechanisms of successful intercropping on a global scale, this meta-analysis by CIRAD identified the levers for fully exploiting the potential of this cropping strategy. The effects of intercropping on yields had hitherto been difficult to forecast, with contrasting results depending on local conditions and from one study to another.

Until now, the complexity of biological interactions made yields unpredictable. Using machine learning to analyse plant functional traits—such as height or sowing density—allowed us to decipher some of the factors that determine the success of intercropping. Our study went beyond just observing results: it revealed the mechanisms that can be used to design bespoke, high-yielding systems on a global scale.
Damien Beillouin
Agronomist, CIRAD

Producing more without expanding planted areas

The researchers characterised the soil and climate conditions and specific traits of each crop for each of the studies considered. They used machine learning algorithms to identify the factors that account for variations in performance. Their analysis showed that the success of intercropping depends first and foremost the system's capacity to foster complementarity between species rather than competition for resources. 

Three key levers optimising yields emerged:

  • planting density (adjusting the number of plants to optimise land occupation);
  • temporal niche differentiation (staggering growth cycles to limit competition at critical times); 
  • height difference (planting crops of different heights to improve exposure to sunlight).

Adopting optimum strategies in terms of these aspects revealed considerable untapped potential to increase production of the main cereal crops.

Concrete gains for resilient, sustainable farming systems

To apply these results, the researchers modelled intercropping rollout scenarios for optimum crop mixtures on a global scale.

An optimum rollout of crop mixtures on existing farmland would theoretically allow a substantial increase in global output, with up to +62% for maize or +6.3 % for barley.
Rémi Prudhomme
Economist, CIRAD

All in all the scenarios showed that intercropping maize and soybean could increase global maize output by 702 million tonnes.

The results proved that optimum intercropping systems are a major lever for increasing yields sustainably, while preserving natural resources. Further research is now required to assess the cost-effectiveness and contribution to ecosystem services of intercropping systems, to steer their widespread adoption.

Reference 

Ruillé, M., Beillouin, D. & Prudhomme, R. Ecological drivers of intercropping performance for enhanced global crop production. npj Sustain. Agric. 4, 8 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-025-00110-z

Key figures

  • 702M tonnes: the potential increase in maize production worldwide
  • 6.3% tonnes: the potential increase in barley production worldwide
  • 4195 observations from 334 studies in 60 countries were analysed in this study

See also