Following are the disadvantages of mixed cropping:
- Applying fertilisers to individual crops is very difficult.
- Spraying pesticides to individual crops is difficult.
- Harvesting and threshing of crops separately are not possible.
Advantages of intercropping are :It helps to maintain soil fertility. It increases productivity per unit area. It saves labour and time. Both crops can be easily harvested and processed separately.
Mixed cropping is a system in which multiple crops are grown in a single field at the same time. This is beneficial to farmers as the space is saved and cultivating multiple crops in a single field might ripen at different seasons and provides a wealth of environmental benefits.
Farmers can keep their fields under continuous production. It enhances the productivity of the farmland. It increases the per capita profitability.
An example of an intercropping strategy is planting one crop that has deep roots with another that has shallow roots. Intercropping has been proposed as an alternative to slash-and-burn farming, which is very bad for the environment. Conserving soil Intercropping also helps to conserve soil.
Mixed cropping is a system of sowing two or three crops together on the same land, one being the main crop and the others the subsidiaries. Source Publication: Glossary of Environment Statistics, Studies in Methods, Series F, No.
BENEFITS OF INTERCROPPING
- Diversity and stability of fields.
- Reduction in chemical/fertilizer application.
- A complementary sharing of plant resources, such as Nitrogen from N fixing plants.
- Weed suppression, and a reduction in susceptibility to insects and disease.
1.2 is the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) in intercropping. It is the ratio of area under sole cropping to the area under intercropping required to give the same amounts of yield under the similar conditions.
The following are the different types of agricultural activities worldwide:
- Shifting Cultivation.
- Nomadic Herding.
- Livestock Ranching/Pastoral Farming.
- Commercial Plantations.
- Mixed Farming.
- Specialized Horticulture.
- Subsistence Farming.
- Intensive Subsistence Farming with/without Rice as a Dominant Crops.
Types of Intercropping
- -Row Intercropping. It's the growing of two or more crops at the same time with at least one crop planted in rows.
- -Strip Intercropping.
- -Mixed Intercropping.
- -Relay Intercropping.
- #1- Greater Income, Greater Yield.
- #2- Insurance against Crop Damage.
- #3- Optimum Use of Soil.
- #4- Good for Primary Crops.
Intercropping is the growth of two or more crops, simultaneously (Vandermeer, 1989). The major benefits of intercropping are (1) increasing the rate of crop production, with the advantage of simultaneously decreasing the risk of total crop reduction, and (2) controlling weeds (Liebman and Dyck, 1993).
Intercropping can be defined as a multiple cropping system that two or more crops planted in a field during a growing season. Crops yield increases with intercropping due to higher growth rate, reduction of weeds, pests and diseases and more effective use of resources.
Poor YieldsIntercropping can lead to poorer yields. The crops may not be compatible. The crops may actually compete for the same nourishment and of course water, which may lead to an unmanageable conflict. It is possible that both crops don't yield enough produce.
Intercropping can benefit the soil in several ways. The additional soil cover provided by the second crop helps reduce erosion. The plants help soak up extra water and nutrients. This additional “pull” of the nutrients can help reduce runoff of the nutrients into adjacent land.
A crop rotation can help to manage your soil and fertility, reduce erosion, improve your soil's health, and increase nutrients available for crops.
transitive verb. : to plant a crop between (plants of another kind) also : to set out young trees among (existing growth)
Crop rotation improves the physical and chemical conditions of soil and thus improves the overall fertility. Nitrogen-fixing legumes such as soybeans and alfalfa in crop rotations fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil through root nodules. This nitrogen is then available for subsequent crops.
advantages of mixed farming are : mixed farming is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land. this reduces risk of crop failure. end it gives some insurance against failure of one of the crops.
ADVERTISEMENTS: The main characteristics of the mixed farming are that farms produce both crops and livestock and the two enterprises are interwoven and integrated. The grass is an important crop of mixed farming system, occupying at least 20 per cent of the cultivated land.
