Achievements of Banana (Musa sp.)-Based Intercropping Systems in Improving Crop Sustainability

Abstract

Sustainable agricultural practices need to be continuously sought after so that a greater number of producers can adopt them, taking into account, above all, the food security scenario, land use efficiency, and climate change. Intercropping—a cultivation system in which two or more species are grown in close proximity in the same field—is one strategy to increase diversity in the agroecosystem. However, for intercropping systems to be adopted, their productive and economic advantages over monoculture must be clearly demonstrated. Banana (Musa sp.) growers are interested in crop diversification as a potential strategy to increase production yields and, consequently, economic income. The management of banana crops can be facilitated by intercropping, as this system plays an important role in increasing biodiversity and reducing the need for weed control in the crop rows, promoting better land use efficiency. However, this system should be evaluated alongside other indicators. Banana intercropping has significant potential and many benefits, but success depends on the interaction between the component species, appropriate management practices, and favorable environmental conditions. This review aims to provide an overview of recent studies on banana intercropping systems, focusing on the contextualization of land use, monoculture and intercropping, and evaluating intercropping indicators, as well as the benefits, risks, and disadvantages discussed in the literature, and the main outcomes of banana-based intercropping systems. The main findings relate to the possibility of using intercrops with aromatic species and the preliminary reports on the contributions of intercrops to the suppression of Fusarium wilt disease.