Push-pull farming system helps insure smallholder maize production under climate change
Clough, Yann LU
; May, Wilhelm
LU
; Luttermoser, Timothy
; Nyagol, Dickens
; Alexandridis, Nikolaos
LU
; Chidawanyika, Frank
; Jonsson, Mattias
; Midega, Charles A.O.
; Poveda, Katja
and Khan, Zeyaur R.
(2027)
In Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
413.
- Abstract
Agroecological approaches harnessing in-field biodiversity have been highlighted as a sustainable way to reduce yield gaps, but long-term assessments of their ability to buffer production from weather extremes and increasing interannual and intraseasonal climate variability are scarce. Here, we analyze a 12-year dataset from 642 control vs. push-pull maize field pairs in western Kenya, where long-term climate trends include increasing temperatures and intensifying drought and rainfall. In push-pull, maize is intercropped with a fodder legume that improves soil fertility, suppresses weeds, and deters pests, and is bordered with fodder grasses attracting and suppressing the pests. We assess interactions between push-pull and climate... (More)
Agroecological approaches harnessing in-field biodiversity have been highlighted as a sustainable way to reduce yield gaps, but long-term assessments of their ability to buffer production from weather extremes and increasing interannual and intraseasonal climate variability are scarce. Here, we analyze a 12-year dataset from 642 control vs. push-pull maize field pairs in western Kenya, where long-term climate trends include increasing temperatures and intensifying drought and rainfall. In push-pull, maize is intercropped with a fodder legume that improves soil fertility, suppresses weeds, and deters pests, and is bordered with fodder grasses attracting and suppressing the pests. We assess interactions between push-pull and climate effects on yields, stemborer pest damage and densities of parasitic weeds during the long and short rainy seasons, and how these drive push-pull effects on yield. Push-pull maize yields were always higher than control yields, but varying climate conditions affected the two field types differently. During the long rainy seasons, differences between push-pull and control yields were higher in years with high temperatures. Yield benefits of push-pull were also higher in years when dry spells were longer early in the long rainy season. During the short rainy seasons, push-pull increased yields, particularly when accumulated seasonal rainfall was optimal, while still doubling yield under very low or very high precipitation. Interactions between push-pull and climate variables were partly mediated by pests and weeds. Our results show that smallholder maize production using push-pull not only increases yields but also buffers adverse effects of weather extremes that are already becoming more frequent and intense.
(Less)
- author
- Clough, Yann
LU
; May, Wilhelm
LU
; Luttermoser, Timothy
; Nyagol, Dickens
; Alexandridis, Nikolaos
LU
; Chidawanyika, Frank
; Jonsson, Mattias
; Midega, Charles A.O.
; Poveda, Katja
and Khan, Zeyaur R.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2027-01-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Agroecology, Climate effects, Climate smart farming, Ecological intensification, Insect pests, Intercropping, Striga
- in
- Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
- volume
- 413
- article number
- 110717
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105048752908
- ISSN
- 0167-8809
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.agee.2026.110717
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- id
- a392091b-e117-4b50-8759-2d30c6091048
- date added to LUP
- 2026-09-10 17:11:03
- date last changed
- 2026-09-11 09:11:27
@article{a392091b-e117-4b50-8759-2d30c6091048,
abstract = {{<p>Agroecological approaches harnessing in-field biodiversity have been highlighted as a sustainable way to reduce yield gaps, but long-term assessments of their ability to buffer production from weather extremes and increasing interannual and intraseasonal climate variability are scarce. Here, we analyze a 12-year dataset from 642 control vs. push-pull maize field pairs in western Kenya, where long-term climate trends include increasing temperatures and intensifying drought and rainfall. In push-pull, maize is intercropped with a fodder legume that improves soil fertility, suppresses weeds, and deters pests, and is bordered with fodder grasses attracting and suppressing the pests. We assess interactions between push-pull and climate effects on yields, stemborer pest damage and densities of parasitic weeds during the long and short rainy seasons, and how these drive push-pull effects on yield. Push-pull maize yields were always higher than control yields, but varying climate conditions affected the two field types differently. During the long rainy seasons, differences between push-pull and control yields were higher in years with high temperatures. Yield benefits of push-pull were also higher in years when dry spells were longer early in the long rainy season. During the short rainy seasons, push-pull increased yields, particularly when accumulated seasonal rainfall was optimal, while still doubling yield under very low or very high precipitation. Interactions between push-pull and climate variables were partly mediated by pests and weeds. Our results show that smallholder maize production using push-pull not only increases yields but also buffers adverse effects of weather extremes that are already becoming more frequent and intense.</p>}},
author = {{Clough, Yann and May, Wilhelm and Luttermoser, Timothy and Nyagol, Dickens and Alexandridis, Nikolaos and Chidawanyika, Frank and Jonsson, Mattias and Midega, Charles A.O. and Poveda, Katja and Khan, Zeyaur R.}},
issn = {{0167-8809}},
keywords = {{Agroecology; Climate effects; Climate smart farming; Ecological intensification; Insect pests; Intercropping; Striga}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment}},
title = {{Push-pull farming system helps insure smallholder maize production under climate change}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110717}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.agee.2026.110717}},
volume = {{413}},
year = {{2027}},
}