The benefits and applications of consortium systems for sustainable agriculture

Agricultural consortium systems emerge as a promising strategy to tackle the challenges of modern agriculture. This comprehensive review analyzes the main consortium systems. Therefore, the aim of this research is to provide a detailed understanding of intercropping systems, their practical applications, and their potential to contribute to more sustainable agriculture. The methodology involved a systematic review of recent scientific articles dealing with the six main intercropping systems recurrent in the literature: grains and legumes, agroforestry, cover crops, crop-livestock integration, perennial annuals, and vegetables, including meta-analysis, with qualitative and quantitative analyses adopted to understand the benefits that intercropped systems reflect on soil quality, as well as in promoting innovation in sustainable management. The results, visualized through Sankey diagrams and boxplots, reveal that these systems can increase productivity, significantly improve soil health, promote biodiversity, improve resource use efficiency, and strengthen climate resilience. Notably, the intercropping of grains and legumes and agroforestry systems demonstrated the most comprehensive benefits. Cover crops had a particularly strong impact on soil health, while agroforestry systems stood out in terms biodiversity and climate resilience. The study also suggests a potential reduction in the use of chemical inputs. We conclude that the broader adoption of intercropping system is an effective strategy for more sustainable and climate resilient agriculture, although challenges to large-scale implementation remain.