I would think that inter-cropping would be more possible with GPS and robotics. I heard it cuts down on pests (confuses the bastards, and also attracts predators).
Our farms have to more and more resemble natural ecosystems to increase resiliency.
Our farms have to more and more resemble natural ecosystems to increase resiliency.
Tall plants shade the shorter ones, so you lose yield for the shorter plants, and this may or may not be made up by the taller ones (which have to put more energy into supporting that height).
Intercropping means pests can live and thrive in your crops. Farmers will sometimes plant one crop 3 years in a row because that means the pests don't have anything to live on and in turn they die off. Intercropping means there is always a host species for the pest to live off of and so they in turn thrive.
I think there are other downsides as well that I can't remember. There may also be unknown downsides - since this is not common there may be downsides were are not aware of. This is why we need scientific research and small trails before rolling out something new in mass - it may be worse than what we have.