weed and insect pest management with low reliance on offfarm
inputs. In addition, intercropping may contribute not only to
enhance planned biodiversity, which is associated with the crop
types managed by the farmer in an agro-ecosystem, but also the
associated biodiversity, which is the spontaneous biota occurring
in agroecosystems [1,11].
Intercrops may suppress weed growth more effectively than
sole crops mainly through competition [12]. Effective weed suppression
and economic results can be similar to or higher than
those of other pest management practices [13]. Although sometimes
harder to manage, intercrops often produce higher and more
stable yields than their sole crop components due to more effi-
cient use of resources and reduced incidence of weeds, insect
pests and diseases [8]. Successful inception of intercropping into
conventional intensively managed cropping systems poses several
challenges, not only regarding agronomic management, such as
the choice of the optimum spatial arrangement, plant density, and
sowing date of each crop in the mixture, but also for assessing
the impact on the associated biodiversity. Agricultural research
has an adequate tool-box of methods and models for technology
development in conventional cropping systems. However, most
information related to intercrops is based on low-input agriculture
and there is little knowledge on managing intercrops in conventional
farming systems [14].
In the Pampas ofArgentina, crop diversity has notably decreased
during the last decades due to agricultural intensification. Nowadays,
croplands are mostly sown with transgenic soybean resistant
to glyphosate by using no-tillage practices [15]. All these changes
have promoted species diversity of weed and insect communities to
decline over time and space [16–18]. Here, we present results of a
study about how the diversification of homogeneous, intensively
managed cropping systems through intercropping may increase
land productivity. Using an experimental approach, we assessed
the occurrence of yield advantage in sunflower/soybean intercrops
in the Southern Pampas. We also evaluated the effects of sunflower
and soybean sole and intercrops on the composition, richness and
abundance of weed and insect assemblages. We expected weed
and insect assemblages to differ between sole crops and intercrops,
being more diverse in the latter.