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Open Innovation | Corteva Agriscience / Collaborate with Us / Past Challenges / Enabling Intercropping (EN)

Novel solutions to enable intercropping practices for agricultural intensification

 
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Corn Stalks and Interseeded Cover Crop


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Most row crop systems in North America are currently grown as annual monocultures. Improving sustainability in these systems and meeting the growing world demand for food, fuel and fiber requires a new paradigm guided by sustainable intensification practices. Like adding additional work shifts at a manufacturing plant to leverage more of the total capacity, land use efficiency may be increased by leveraging unused light, soil, and water resources to yield more per acre. 

Innovative multi-cropping systems with reduced or removed fallow periods not only intensify agricultural output, but also protect the soil, keeping it covered throughout the year. However, logistical challenges of planting during the post-harvest period hinder adoption of these systems.  Inter-seeding before harvest may lower the barrier, but requires addressing variables such as planting dates, time to maturity, and the ability to inter-seed, germinate and establish seedlings within a standing crop before harvest. Furthermore, establishing new multi-cropping systems in a region will require new agronomic practices and breeding efforts for optimized varieties. We believe innovative methods and technologies can have a positive impact on the adoption of multi-cropping systems and are specifically interested in collaborating to enable inter-seeding and the establishment of seedlings within multi-cropping systems that include corn, soybean, canola, sorghum or wheat.

At Corteva, our goal is to develop effective, sustainable, and durable solutions to agricultural challenges. Driving innovation to help farmers operate more sustainably and profitably is core to delivering for our future. We invite public and private sector scientists and organizations and farmers to join our efforts by submitting a proposal describing novel methods to enable inter-seeding in intercropping systems.

Closed

Submission deadline:
August 31, 2023 by 5pm PST 

Who Should Apply

Public and private sector scientists, engineers, organizations, farmers

Funding

Up to $50,000, including a maximum of 10% indirect costs*

What Are We Seeking?

General benefits of intercropping include increased efficiency of resource use, decreased pest and disease pressure, and improved soil health. However, with benefits come significant challenges to common management strategies including crop rotation timing and leveraging common farming equipment. Corteva is seeking short, non-confidential  proposals that describe a plan to demonstrate novel methods to enable inter-seeding within a scalable intercropping system involving corn, soybean, canola, sorghum, or wheat.

Must have:

  • The multi cropping system includes a minimum of one traditional commodity crop (corn, soybean, canola, sorghum, or wheat)

  • Novel methods that enable inter-seeding into a standing crop, seed germination at a desired time, or seedling establishment in an intercropping environment. Methods may include but are not limited to:

    • Physical methods (equipment or hardware)
    • Management practices applied to any crop in the system
    • Seed treatments (chemical or physical)
    • Breeding strategies

  • Scalable application (e.g., path to use at 100+ acre scale must be clearly described if not demonstrated in the proposed solution)

Nice-to-have:

  • Data supporting the proposed method (productivity, pest and weed impact, soil health impact, etc)

  • Estimated and/or modeled value potential 

  • Ability to carry out relevant field trials for the proposed system in small plot trials or on-farm. 

Approaches not of interest:

  • Intercropping systems and associated enabling technologies limited to tropical environments

  • Inter-seeding systems that are widely known including: 

    • Broadcast seeding of untreated winter rye into corn/soybean via plane, drone, or equipment equivalent to Hagie Montag Fortifier
    • Relay cropping soybeans into wheat using established methods (e.g., row-skipping)

Proposals should include:

  • a non-confidential description in English of the proposed work to demonstrate the novel method or technology that enables inter-seeding into a standing crop

  • a detailed description of the proposed intercropping system that includes corn, soybean, canola, sorghum, or wheat

    • crops involved, timing of planting and harvest
    • growing region, length of growing season, expected yield levels (for each crop in a double crop system or the cash crop in a cover crop system)
    • potential challenges of the system (weed or pest management, farming equipment considerations)
    • potential benefits of the system (soil health, ecosystem services, weed or pest pressure, grower value)

  • a description of how the proposed solution can scale to 100+ acres

  • any data or references that support the use of this method for the purpose described  

  • expertise, equipment, and facilities you have and/or need to execute the proposal, including field access for testing 

  • description of potential roadblocks to success 

  • a high-level timeline to proof of concept, up to 18-months

  • a high-level breakdown of the estimated project cost up to $50,000

 

Who Should Submit?

  • Agronomists, crop scientists, breeders, biologists, chemists, engineers and farmers with novel ideas to solve this challenge
  • Public and private sector institutions and organizations with related experience and interest

This RFP is open to the global innovation community.  Postdocs or grad students must have advisor support (see Frequently Asked Questions for more information).

 

What Can You Expect?

For submissions received by August 31 @ 5:00 PM PST:

  • We will evaluate your submission and notify you of its status by October 31, 2023.
  • An Open Innovation representative will contact selected finalists to arrange a virtual discussion with Corteva scientists under confidentiality and to provide additional details on the selection process.

For selected proposals: 

  • Submitters will engage with Corteva scientists to develop an agreed upon project plan 
  • Continued interactions with Corteva scientists throughout the project

How Can We Help?

For selected proposals:

  • Funding (up to $50,000 inclusive of a maximum of 10% indirect costs*)
  • Corteva in-kind resources as applicable (e.g., access to field sites)
  • Opportunities for extended collaboration and additional funding if successful

* Indirect costs available to academic and nonprofit research institutes only. Final agreement terms and funding amount to be determined after selection.

This challenge is cross listed on the Halo and Leading Edge Only Open Innovation platforms.