Groundbreaking Study Finds Mutual Benefits: People, Environment, and Bottom Lines Thrive with Diversified Farming

Laura Vang Rasmussen of the University of Copenhagen can finally wipe the sweat from her brow. For the last four years, she has served as the link between 58 researchers on five continents and as lead author of a major agricultural study which gathered data from 24 research projects, along with colleague Ingo Grass of the University of Hohenheim in Germany.

The hard work has finally paid off. Their research article, just published in the prestigious journal SCIENCE, delivers a clear and well-founded message to agriculture:

“Drop monoculture and industrial thinking and diversify the way you farm – it pays off,” as Laura Vang Rasmussen from the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management puts it.

“Our results from this comprehensive study are surprisingly clear. While we see very few negative effects from agricultural diversification, there are many significant benefits. This is particularly the case when two, three or more measures are combined. The more, the better, especially when it comes to biodiversity and food security,” she explains.