When genotypes grown together in a diverse population have different profiles of resource use they complement each other in the exploitation of the limiting resource and therefore are subject to smaller between-plant competition.
In case of disease or environmental change some plants will take over when others fail. Yield stability over years and environments can be better than pure lines due to compensation.
Participatory plant breeding (PPB) methods represent alternatives aimed to improve local adaptation breeding, to promote genetic diversity, to empower farmers and rural communities. In PPB farmers are actively participating in developing new cultivars or populations, e.g. by performing selection.