The last century, agriculture has been characterised by control and specialization: monocrops being grown with intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides. But environmental concerns, disease and pest resistance to pesticides and finite availability of resources call for a change in strategy. Diversity both in terms of utilizing different crop species and in combining different ecology-based management practices may provide an alternative. Yet, the mechanisms that drive the relationship between species diversity and functioning ecosystem functioning remain poorly understood. Also, we have limited knowledge on how these relationships can be used in combination with diversity in crop management to create productive, resource-efficient and resilient crop systems. This course focusses on this knowledge gap.
The first part of the course deals with what we can learn from natural systems, and analyzes the mechanisms that drive relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning. The focus will be on resource sharing between neighbouring plants. The second part addresses how this knowledge about effects of species diversity can be utilized in agricultural systems, looking at resource sharing between different species in a mixed cropping situation. Finally, the third part focuses on diversity in management options in the suppression of weed growth, taking into account the interaction between crop and weed plants and how this plays a role in integrated weed management (weed control through a combination of methods extending beyond herbicide use).
To determine to which extent diversity in crop species and crop management can be functional, computer simulation models have become an indispensable tool for researchers in this field. This course therefore has a heavy modelling component, as all three parts outlined above will contain modelling practicals in addition to measurements on plants in the greenhouse. Simulation models will be used for the analysis of plant-plant interaction and the consequences of management decisions. Therefore, during the course, you will be taught the principles of both functional-structural plant modelling using the modelling platform GroIMP, as well as mechanistic modelling of crop-weed interactions, using the modelling platform FST.