GMWatch on Nostr: Field study finds using #biodiversity instead of #pesticides can reduce crop damage ...

Field study finds using #biodiversity instead of #pesticides can reduce crop damage and even increase yields. Using biodiversity within a plant species means different plant genotypes can cooperate to help fend off herbivorous insects. In addition: “Overall, mixing cultivars increased crop biomass, leaf area index, photosynthetic rate, and water-use efficiency by 5.1, 7.2, 8.5 and 4.3%, respectively, and decreased disease incidence by 24.1%.” https://phys.org/news/2024-10-field-biodiversity-pesticides-crop-herbivores.html