Resource-efficient compact bed plasticulture reduces production risks and sustainably intensifies agriculture

Plasticulture is a growing high-intensity production system with limited understanding of long-term consequences. We evaluated compact bed plasticulture (CBP), which features narrower and taller beds, on commercial farms with regards to input productivity, risks (biotic/abiotic stressors), and environmental and economical outcomes. CBP increased yield and nutrient uptake while reducing drought/saturation stress, nematodes, disease (fusarium), and nitrate leaching. It also cut pre-plant pesticides by 40%, making selective but more costly alternatives viable. These alternatives increased soil microbial diversity while reducing nematodes and fusarium wilt. CBP enhanced yields and profits (US$ 2798/ha) while increasing nitrogen, phosphorus, water, and plastic productivities, and reducing carbon footprint. Complete adoption of CBP on tomato farms in North America could reduce plastics by 4 Mt, pesticide by 22.8 Mt, and increase annual income by $183 million. This dual strategy of CBP and alternative pesticides is an innovation that enhances plasticulture’s productivity and sustainability while minimizing environmental impacts.