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2015 Autumn | Agriculture and Food Systems

The Environmental Impact of Intercropping through a Financial Perspective: A Comparative Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Single Succession Agricultural Experiment

Student(s):

Bradyn Kawcak

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Sarah Geurkink

Partner(s):

  • The UW Farm

Faculty advisor(s):

Daniel Vogt, School of Environment and Forest Sciences, University of Washington

For my Capstone Experience Project, I was a part of the UW Farm’s summer internship program where I learned the operational duties of running a farm, as well as evaluated the alternative growing method of intercropping. Intercropping is the planting of two or more crops within one agricultural bed space, therefore I designed an experiment that let me compare an intercrop sample of beans, lettuce, and cucumbers to their respected monoculture counterparts. The process and results of this experiment led me to understanding the benefits of financially evaluating the environmental damages of agriculture, no matter the scale.