Editorial: Increasing resilience through multi-species intercropping, agroforestry and mixed grazing crop-livestock systems

2024) conducted a holistic analysis of cropping diversity and intensity among smallholder farms in Bihar, India. Using the computational tool FarmDESIGN, they modelled the impacts of transitioning from an intensive double-cropping cereal system to diversified systems incorporating legumes. Through this, the authors identified that the integration of legumes contributes to the resilience, food security, and financial stability of smallholder farms across all farmer typologies in the region, but with the caveat of potential increased reliance on biocides. In the same agroecological landscape of Bihar, Kudi et al. ( 2025) assessed adaptive management practices in sugarcane cultivation, detailing how targeted agronomic diversification strategies can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of intensive cash crops.The transition to diversified systems relies not only on biophysical viability but also on socioeconomic factors. Bagagnan et al. (2024) investigated the criteria farmers use to decide whether to implement agro-ecological farming practices and how farm diversity (typology) and characteristics influence these decisions in the North-Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. The authors highlight that if agroecological practices are to be successfully adopted, researchers and policymakers should tailor recommendations, emphasising co-design of new practices to directly align with farmers' specific criteria, ensuring they are not prohibitively labor-intensive and that adequate training is provided.Integrating crops and livestock is a cornerstone of regenerative agricultural practices. A simulation analysis by Peterson et al. ( 2020) compared an integrated crop-livestock system versus a control crop-cover crop system in southern Brazil using the APSIM model. Their findings illustrate that the integrated system offers significantly greater overall productivity and economic stability under both past and predicted future (2020-2060) climate conditions, reinforcing the resilience of the whole farming system.In relation to grazing management, Jerrentrup et al. (2020) showed that combining multi-species swards with the mixed-grazing of cattle and sheep synergistically improves overall pasture and animal productivity over a five-year experiment in Germany. To address the lack of comprehensive, farm-level data on multi-species livestock systems, Ulukan et al. (2021) presented a large dataset comprising 102 multispecies livestock farms spanning seven European countries. This offers a foundational resource for future research into mixed-species animal husbandry. Norton et al. ( 2022) enhanced this topic further by collaborating with the Pasture Fed Livestock Association (PFLA) in the UK; an innovative network of practitioners who raise livestock entirely on pasture and forage. The authors conclude that 100% pasture-fed livestock systems are not only environmentally beneficial but also highly viable and economically resilient business models and emphasised that real-world adaptations for increased farm sustainability and resilience are often driven by farmer-led innovation and experiential learning.A prominent theme within this Research Topic is the role of trees in agricultural landscapes for both microclimate management and carbon sequestration. In livestock systems, incorporating trees is equally transformative. Andrade et al. (2024) evaluated the carbon footprint of livestock farms in Mexico, providing compelling evidence that silvopastoral systems drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product compared to conventional management.The studies compiled in this Research Topic reinforces the concept that maximising diversity leads to resilience. Whether through combining forage grasses and legumes, integrating trees into cropland and pastures, or mixing livestock species, agricultural diversification creates synergies that protect agricultural systems against climatic and economic shocks. To scale up these benefits, future efforts must focus on providing support via policy and institutional frameworks that incentivise farmers to move away from monoculture and single-species intensive livestock systems. We hope this collection serves as both a comprehensive resource for researchers and a catalyst for policymakers to champion multi-species agricultural systems globally.