Food security has been a significant issue for the livelihood of smallholder family farms in highly populated regions and countries. Industrialized farming in more developed countries has increased global food supply to meet the demand, but the excessive use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has negative environmental impacts. Finding sustainable ways to grow more food with a smaller environmental footprint is critical. We developed an integrated cropping system that incorporates four key components: 1) intensified cropping through relay planting or intercropping, 2) within-field strip rotation, 3) soil mulching with available means, such as crop straw, and 4) no-till or reduced tillage. Sixteen field experiments, conducted with a wide range of crop inputs over 12 consecutive years (2006 to 2017), showed that the integrated system with intercropping generates significant synergies—increasing annual crop yields by 15.6 to 49.9% and farm net returns by 39.2% and decreasing the environmental footprint by 17.3%—when compared with traditional monoculture cropping. We conclude that smallholder farmers can achieve the dual goals of growing more food and lowering the environmental footprint by adopting integrated farming systems.

粮食安全一直是人口稠密地区和国家小农家庭农场生计的重要问题。较发达国家的工业化农业增加了全球粮食供应以满足需求，但过度使用合成肥料和杀虫剂会对环境产生负面影响。寻找可持续的方法来种植更多的食物，同时减少对环境的影响，这一点至关重要。我们开发了一个综合种植系统，该系统包含四个关键部分：1) 通过套种或间作加强种植，2) 田间带状轮作，3) 使用可用手段（如农作物秸秆）覆盖土壤，以及 4) 免耕或减少耕作。连续 12 年（2006 年至 2017 年）在广泛的作物投入下进行了 16 次田间试验，结果表明，与传统的单作种植相比，间作的综合系统产生了显着的协同效应——作物年产量增加 15.6% 至 49.9%，农场净收益增加 39.2%，环境足迹减少 17.3%。我们得出结论，小农可以通过采用综合农业系统来实现种植更多粮食和减少环境足迹的双重目标。