Impact of diversified cropping systems on pest and disease dynamics in intensive agriculture

Abstract

While monoculture simplifies management, it also simplifies the pest community and not in the farmer’s favour. This research compared pest and disease incidence in diversified cropping systems (intercropping + rotation + border crops) against continuous wheat monoculture over two growing seasons (2021-2023) at Lomonosov Moscow State University’s field station. Diversified plots reduced total pest populations by 41-58% and fungal disease severity by 34-47% compared with monoculture. Natural enemy density was 2.3× higher in diversified systems. Pesticide applications were reduced by 47% without yield penalty. These results demonstrate that crop diversification can suppress pest pressure while maintaining productivity.