Intercropping

Intercropping
The agricultural practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same space at
the same time.
Types of Intercropping
These are the basic four methods commonly employed.
Row Intercropping
growing of two or more crops at the same time with at least one crop planted in
rows.
Mixed Intercropping
two or more crop are mixed together, seeded together, and harvested together.
Examples of mixed intercropping of annual crops are the practice of growing
corn, bean and squash
Strip Intercropping
growing of two or more crops together in strips wide enough to allow separate
production of crops using mechanical implements, but close enough for the
crops to interact. alternating strips of wheat, corn and soybean 6 rows wide
each; and another one can be 6 rows of corn with 12 rows of soybean.
Relay Intercropping
A second crop is planted into an existing crop when it has flowered but before
harvesting.
There is thus a minimum temporal overlap of two or more crops. The relay crop
should be fairly tolerant to shade and trampling.
Examples of relay crops are cotton, sweet potato and sesban ia with chickpea whereas
lentil and wheat with upland rice.
Difference between Intercropping and Crop Rotation
Intercropping and crop rotation are not the same thing.
In that sense, intercropping requires that different types of plants are grown in the
same space at the same time.
On the other hand, crop rotation is the concept of growing different types of plants in
the same space at different times.
In crop rotation, the plants don’t necessarily need to be good companions in the same
way.
Advantage of intercropping
Greater yield on a given piece of land by making more efficient use of

the available resources
improves soil fertility
Increases soil conservation through greater ground cover
Provides better lodging resistance for crops susceptible to lodging
Reduce pest incidence and improve forage quality by increasing CP.
Insurance against crop failure or against unstable market prices
Greater financial stability and suitable for labor-intensive small farms.
Allows lower inputs through reduced fertilizer and pesticide

requirements, thus minimizing environmental impacts of agriculture.
Disadvantages
Due to competition for light, water and nutrients, or allelopathic effects
that may occur between mixed crops may reduce yields .
The selection of the appropriate crops plantig rates, te sowing densities,

including extra work in preparing and planting the seed mixture and
also extra work during crop management practices, including harvest.
A serious disadvantage in intercropping is thought to be difficult with

practical management, especially where there is a high degree of
mechanization or when the component crops have different requirements
for fertilizers, herbicides, and
pesticides.
Additional cost for separation of mixed grains and lack of marketing of

mixed grains, problems at harvest due to lodging, and grain loss at harvest
also can be serious drawbacks of intercropping.
Mechanization is a major problem in intercropping. Machinery used
for sowing, weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting are made for big
uniform fields.
Harvesting remains a great problem, but it may be more easily

overcome where the intercrops are harvested for forage or grazed.
The work needed in the field is mainly done by hand with simple
tools because intercropping is very labour intensive.
However, where manual labour is plentiful and cheap, it is not

necessary to invest in expensive machinery especially for
intercropping.
intercropping has no disadvantages, but for intercropping on a large

scale basis, mechanization is generally believed to be impossible or
inefficient.
Classical Examples
annual grains and vegetables, such as the mixed intercropping classic of corn, beans and
squash.
Sometimes there are perennial species with annual crops growing amongst them, say
perennial garlic and basil with annual tomatoes.
Perennials also work well with other perennials. In parts of the tropics, bananas, papayas,
coffee, vanilla and cacao make a crackerjack intercropping team (For example here
at Richmond Vale Academy, we have what we like to call the “Dessert Field” with
bananas, cacao and vanilla. Delicious!).
Fig.1 Row intercropping (corn + climbing bean) Fig 2. Mixed intercropping within rows
Fig 3. Strip intercropping, (one broom corn row with two bush bean rows)
Fig 4. Lodging resistance for susceptible crops through intercropping: a) barley with common
vetch,
Fig 5. Lodging resistance for susceptible crops through intercropping: corn with climbing
Fig 6. Lodging resistance for susceptible crops through intercropping: wheat with
lathyrus
Fig 7. Loss of plant height in intercrop of oat with common vetch which results in reduction
efficiency of light interception
Fig 8. Weed infestations by Papaver rhoeas and Sinapis arvensis in intercrop of soft
wheat with common vetch without any weed control treatment
Crop combinations in intercropping
Careful planning is required when selecting the component crops of a
mixture, taking into account the environmental conditions of an area and
the available crops or varieties.
For example,
faba bean yielded more in a maize/faba bean in comparsion in a

wheat/faba bean.
More yield and monetary advantage incase of groundnut+ maize than
groundnuts + sorghum or pearl millet.
not to have crops competing with each other for physical space,
nutrients, water, or sunlight.
Examples of intercropping strategies are planting a deeprooted crop with

a shallow-rooted crop, or planting a tall crop with a short crop that
requires only partial shade.
Component crops differ with geographical location and determined by the
length of growing season and the adaptation of crops to particular environ.
Maize seems to dominate as one of the cereal component of intercrops,

often combined with various legumes.
The combination of cereals with legumes in mixed cropping offers particular

scope for developing energy-efficient and sustainable agriculture due to the
nitrogen fixation capability of the legume and the provision of protein in the
form of either grain or forage.
There are many different types of species that can be used for intercropping:
annuals, e.g. cereals and legumes, perennials including trees, or a mixture of
the two.
Crop shape and the duration have been used to distinguish crop
combinations of similar height and duration such as barley and oats with
same morphology and different duration or biennial crop with those of
longer growth duration such as soybean and sugarcane, annual crops of
cereals and legumes such as sorghum and pigeon pea and cowpea.
In warmer, cereals primarily used are maize, sorghum, millet, but less rice, whereas the
legume crop is normally cowpea, groundnut, soybean, chickpea, bean, and pigeonpea.
In these systems early- and slow maturing crops are used that are combined to ensure
efficient
utilization of the growing season length.
In temperate, intercrop combinations consist of wheat, oats, rye, or barley as the cereal
component and field bean, vetch, or soybean as the legume component.
Some of the most common crop mixtures are those of winter cereals with a legume. One
of the most common cereals that are used in temperate regions is barley which was found to
produce higher quality forage than oat, triticale, and wheat.
Legumes are mostly preferable to non-legumes because they supply their own N and have
higher protein content, but in production agriculture where N is not limited or where legumes
do not perform well, non-legumes or mixtures of legumes and non-legumes may be more
advantageous.
When choosing the appropriate forage to be grown, farmers should consider the need for
roughage and protein, the costs of N fertilizer for crops, protein for animal feed stuff, and the
rotational role of the crop.

Intercropping

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Intercropping

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Intercropping

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Intercropping

Difference between Intercropping and Crop Rotation

Intercropping and crop rotation are not the same thing.

Greater yield on a given piece of land by making more efficient use of

improves soil fertility

Increases soil conservation through greater ground cover

Provides better lodging resistance for crops susceptible to lodging

Reduce pest incidence and improve forage quality by increasing CP.

Insurance against crop failure or against unstable market prices

Greater financial stability and suitable for labor-intensive small farms.

Allows lower inputs through reduced fertilizer and pesticide

The selection of the appropriate crops plantig rates, te sowing densities,

A serious disadvantage in intercropping is thought to be difficult with

Additional cost for separation of mixed grains and lack of marketing of

Harvesting remains a great problem, but it may be more easily

However, where manual labour is plentiful and cheap, it is not

intercropping has no disadvantages, but for intercropping on a large

faba bean yielded more in a maize/faba bean in comparsion in a

Examples of intercropping strategies are planting a deeprooted crop with

Maize seems to dominate as one of the cereal component of intercrops,

The combination of cereals with legumes in mixed cropping offers particular

You might also like