Cropping System Approach to Horticultural Crop Production for Agricultural Sustainability: A Climate-Smart Production Strategy

The world’s agricultural sector is currently at a crossroads of climatic anomalies, food insecurity, decreasing arable land, and a growing population. Hence, they force a paradigm shift towards sustainable and resilient agricultural practices. Traditional methods of agricultural production flourished in intensive agriculture, especially after the fossil fuel-driven Green Revolution, which has raised questions about agricultural sustainability over time. In this context, the proper adoption of sustainable cropping systems emerged as an ecologically rational, strategically managed, practically relevant and economically viable option. Such systems are aligned with ecosystem services, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate-smart agriculture. In a horticultural system, crops are of high economic value and are perishable and sensitive to climate change; however, integrating a polyculture can increase resource utilisation while providing better monetary benefits. The diverse canopy structure and architecture of horticultural crops provide a conducive environment for intercropping by regulating the microclimate, which mitigates climatic extremes, namely, wind speed, temperature, moisture depletion and erosion. The integration of intercrops, such as legumes, into a monocultured horticultural system not only fixes atmospheric nitrogen biologically, which minimises the dependency on synthetic fertiliser and enhances soil fertility, but also disrupts the pest and disease cycle while decreasing the need for chemical inputs. The different root depths of horticultural crops provide access to soil moisture and nutrients and maintain their compatibility with intraspecific competition. Intercropping of horticultural crops helps mitigate the risk of economic losses due to climate change. The cropping system substantially contributed to ecosystem stability, year-round carbon sequestration, and soil health; minimised nutrient losses; and provided vegetative soil cover. Multistrata intercropping can be considered in the directions of crop combination, mechanisation and yield assessment tools, which can be bridged through targeted research and development, capacity building, extension services, and policy support. Hence, climate-smart strategies can focus on agricultural complexity under a changing climate scenario to develop a sustainable climate-smart horticultural cropping system.