Average crop species richness

Calculation

Crop production is outsourced at the national and subnational level such as states, districts, or counties. The smaller the administrative units, the better the results. Spatial distribution of the produced crops considers delimited cropland areas, crop-specific suitability information based on local landscape, and climate and soil conditions, among other parameters for applying a cross-entropy approach to obtain the final estimation of crop distribution. For a list of the 42 crops included and further details see https://www.mapspam.info/methodology/

Definition

Crop diversity richness in production systems.

Relevance

Higher crop species richness and diversity are associated with several positive outcomes for production (yield stability, reduced pest and disease outbreaks, higher pollinator diversity) and for the environment (higher insect and bird richness and abundance, higher soil biodiversity). This indicator can be used to identify crops grown in areas with very low versus very high numbers of different crops within a 10x10 km area. Countries with lower average crop richness are likely to be growing in simplified farms and landscapes (monoculture systems) while countries with crop richness tending towards 42 are likely to be growing in multifunctional farms and landscapes. Note that the scale of the data (10x10 km) means that many small farms all producing different crops in monocultures will likely result in higher crop richness or diversity scores than several large farms using intercrop or crop rotation systems. There is no clear scientific consensus on a target crop richness to ensure sustainable production systems. A global target of 15 crops per 10x10km should be attainable for all cropland and could be used as a threshold across all commodities.