Faba Bean: A Potential Intercrop In Organic Vegetable Production In A European Perspective?

Intercropping can provide ecological and yield benefits when selecting crops and management practices that balance the competition for resources. A field experiment was carried out under temperate conditions to study the effect of intercropping faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and pointed cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. conica) on yield and plant nitrogen (N) uptake. Both crops were grown in mono cropping (MC) and intercropping systems (IC). The yield of pointed cabbage per meter row was 28% higher under IC compared to MC. The ratio between marketable yield and total yield of pointed cabbage was also higher in IC. However, faba bean yield per meter row was reduced by 15% under IC. There was an indication of higher total N accumulation under IC followed by cabbage-MC and faba bean-MC. Soil mineral N at harvest (0-2.5 m depth) was lower in cabbage-MC, followed by IC and faba bean-MC. The intercropping system had a positive land equivalent ratio (LER) of 1.06, which points to the potential of using faba bean as an intercrop in sustainable organic vegetable production systems with higher N use efficiency. Results will be discussed in the wider perspective of several European trials on intercropping from the SureVeg-project (Strip-cropping and recycling for biodiverse and resource-efficient intensive vegetable production) and point to new knowledge for farmers wanting to implement intercropping.