Fig. 4: Yield, dietary nutrition and revenue benefits of rotation vs. mono- culture systems in major agricultural production regions worldwide.

Light green and peach circles represent major agricultural production regions where the current predominant cropping system (specified in bold) is rotation or continuous monoculture, respectively. Values in percentages indicate the benefits/losses comparing an alternative system (indicated in italics, representing either the recommended synergized crop rotation or a monoculture (frequently used in the region considered) with the current predominant cropping system in a specific region (indicated in bold). Trade-offs were calculated for total yield (green bars), dietary nutrition (yellow bars) and revenue (orange bars) of the whole system (i.e., preceding crop plus main crop) between the above-mentioned systems where data were available. Royal blue bars indicate the yield gain of the subsequent crop through alternative rotations, or otherwise how much yield proportion would be lost by not transitioning from monoculture. Bar lengths are capped at a 100% reference value for all regions except Southern America, which is capped at 200%. * indicates non-significant outcomes between the dominant system and continuous monoculture. In each cropping sequence, the last crop (e.g., maize in soybean-maize) represent the specific monoculture that was compared to that specific sequence.