The European Conference on Crop Diversification took place from September 18th to 21st, 2019 in Budapest (Hungary). The meeting explored how we can achieve the full potential of crop system diversification to improve productivity, the provision of sustainable and resource-efficient ecosystem services and value chains.
The temporal and spatial diversification of crops through practices such as rotation, multiple cultivation and intercropping (mixing of species) constitute key pillars of the transition to Agroecology. However, diversified agricultural systems will only emerge if clear benefits can be demonstrated for farmers and society, value chains are fully compromised and crop diversification is backed by policies.
The conference focused on all scientific aspects of the diversification of agricultural and food systems, on the practical implementation of crop diversification in value chains and on policy-related issues. In particular, the conference will address the following topics:
Benefits and practical experiences of crop diversification
Incentives promote diversification along value chains – approaches to evaluate the performance of diversified cropping systems at various scales
Focuses that foster crop diversification and accompany actors when they transition to sustainable European systems
Political recommendations to make the systems more willing to diversify crops.
