Banana monocropping systems are high input consumers (fertilizers and pesticides). In these simplified cropping systems, cultural practices have impaired ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling or biological regulation of pests. This leads to a vicious circle in which more and more inputs are used. To reduce chemical inputs while maintaining crop yield, ecosystem functions that are disturbed must be restored. One way is to integrate cover-crops into the cropping system, which are expected (i) to enhance the biological control of pests and diseases (plant-parasitic nematodes, weeds) by increasing biodiversity within the agrosystem and (ii) to promote resource use efficiency and water and nutrient cycling by plant complementarities (Altieri, 1999 and Malézieux et al., 2009). In these innovating cropping systems with low input levels, water and nutrient resources must be carefully managed because their availability for the main crop can be reduced by competition between species. Additionally, the cover-crop may modify field microclimate, particularly temperature, which affects plant development and crop yield (Zhang et al., 2008). In banana plantations, such systems are proposed as an alternative to monocropping.
To manage and evaluate such innovating systems, dedicated tools and models are needed to a