Lesson 30. Different Cropping Systems - I

30.1 INTRODUCTION

System of cropping is the way in which different crops are grown. Sometimes a number of crops are grown together or they are grown separately at short intervals in the same field. For easy understanding the cropping system may be divided into two main groups:

  1. Mixed cropping
  2. Intensive cropping

30.2 MIXED CROPPING

Mixed cropping is the process of growing two or more crops together in the same piece of land, this system of cropping is generally practised in areas where climatic hazards such as flood, drought, frost etc., are frequent and common. The farmers always fear that their crops will fail. Under mixed cropping, the time of sowing of all the crops is almost failed. Under mixed cropping, the time of sowing of all the crops is almost the same, however they may mature either together e.g. wheat+ gram or wheat + barley or wheat + mustard or they may nature at different times. E.g. arhar + jowar + mung and till or groundnut + bajara etc.

Mixed cropping may be classified into the following groups, based on their method of sowing:

(a)  Mixed crops: in this group the seeds of different crops are mixed together and then sown either in lines or they are broad casted. This system is not scientific and it causes problems in performing all the agricultural operation and harvesting of the crops.

(b) Companion crops: under this method the seeds of different crops are not mixed together but different crops sown in different rows, e.g. between two rows of mustard 5 to 8 rows of wheat or between two rows of arhar two – three rows of groundnut are sown. This method of sowing facilitates in weeding, interculture, plant protaction operation and even harvesting. 

(c)  Guard crops: under this system of cropping, the main crop is grown in the centre, surrounded by hardy or thorny crops such as safflower around pea, or wheat, mesta (Patsan) around sugarcane, jowar around maize etc. With a view to provide protection to the main crop.

(d) Augmenting crops: when sub crops are sown to supplement the yield of the main crop the sub crops are called as Augmenting crops such as Japanese mustard with berseem. Here the mustard helps in getting higher tonnage of fodder inspite of the fact that berseem give poor yield in first cutting.

30.2.1 Principles of mixed cropping

The most important point is selection of crops. Crops which compete with each other should not be chosen. Therefore the following points should be considered while selecting crops.

  1. Legumes should be sown with non-legumes examples arhar with jowar, gram with wheat.
  2. Tall growing crops should be sown with short growing crops. e.g. maize with mung/urd.
  3. Deep rooted crops (tap rooted crops) should be sown with shallow rooted or adventitious crops.
  4. Bushy crops should be sown with erect growing crops.
  5. Crops being attacked by similar insects, pests and diseases should not be sown together.
  6. Mixture should consist short and long duration crops.

30.2.2 Advantages of mixed cropping

Mixed cropping has the following advantages.

  1. All the crops do not fail under adverse climatic conditions, e.g. frost kills only legumes, flood kills only dicot plants and drought kills the monocot plants or shallow rooted crops. Thus the farmer gets some crops instead of losing the entire crop.
  2. An epidemic attack of any insect, pest or disease kills only one crop without affecting the rest of the crops.
  3. The farmer grows different crops which fulfil their daily need or demand for cereals, pulses and oil seeds.
  4. Mixed cropping checks soil erosion, weeds etc.
  5. It improves or maintains the soil fertility.
  6. Family labour and cattle are employed throughout year.
  7. Legumes and non-legume mixture improves the fodder quality and quantity both.
  8. It reduces cost of cultivation.

30.3 Intensive cropping

In developing countries like India where subsistent farming is still predominant, evolution of high yielding varieties, expansion of irrigated area and rapid transfer of technology have made green revolution a distinct possibility through majority of beneficiaries were big farmers. In future much of the boost needed in agricultural production has to be achieved from small farmers which can be possible only through intensive cropping. The average cropping intensity is still about 115% in India as against 185 in Taiwan (Darrymple, 1971). Much has to be done in low rainfall areas which require an immediate attention on the design, testing and identification of most befitting cropping systems for different regions aiming at maximum utilization of physical resources like rainfall, solar radiation, irrigation and soil for crop production.

Intensive cropping is the process of growing a number of crops on the same piece of land during the given period of time. In other words, when the area is limited and the number of crops to be grown is increased within a definite period of time, this cropping method is termed as intensive cropping. The main objective is to increase the income/unit area within a specified period of time.

30.3.1 Method of intensive cropping

The following methods have been developed to make intensive cropping a success.

  1. Multiple cropping

This represents a philosophy of maximum crop production per unit area of land within an agricultural year. In other words multiple cropping may be explained as a cropping system in which two or more crops are grown in succession by adopting the following cropping systems:

(a) Relay cropping: Relay cropping is analogous in a relay race where a crop hands over a baton (land) to the next crop in quick succession. The best example of relay cropping is given below.

  1. Under rainfed or partially irrigated conditions:

Paddy-Lathyrus

Paddy-Lucerne

Paddy-Berseem

Cotton-Berseem

Here the seeds of lathyrus, lucerne or berseem are broadcasted in standing paddy or cotton crop just before they are ready for harvesting.

Thus, the field is never fallow or there is no gap at all between two successive crops.

30.3.2 Pre-requisite of intensive cropping.

For successful multiple cropping programme the following things must be made available.

  1. Availability of most suited high yielding and short duration crop varieties. These varieties must be responsive to input doses and they should also be thermo and photo non-sensitive so that at least three crops could be grown every year.
  2. Availability of genetically superior quality seed or planting materials so that a required genotype could be grown and they may express their full yield potentials.
  3. An excellent physic-chemical properties of soil like well levelled land surface, better structure, aeration, water holding capacity, permeability, free from undesirable salts, etc. should be maintained. The soil should be rich in soil fertility and organic matter content so that it may sustain high intensity cropping with greater productivity.
  4. The area should not be prone to climatic hazards like flood, drought, frost, etc. and all preventive measures should be taken in advance to meet any such challenges. The soil should be rich in soil fertility and organic matter content so that it may sustain high intensity cropping with greater productivity.
  5. Ready availability of inputs like labour, capital, irrigation, power, fertilizer, seed and plant protection materials and equipments with technical details.
  6. An official and regulated marketing facilities should be provided to the growers so that they may get remunerative prices of their produce to enable them recycling of funds in better crop planning. This would also avoid glut in the market.
  7. The cultivators must be well acquainted with latest crop production technologies like zero or minimum tillage, relay or overlapping cropping systems etc.
  8. The farmers should get acquainted with allelophathic effects of some crops and their associated weeds so that the susceptible crops could be avoided in succession viz. accumulation of HCN in sorghum stubbles becomes toxic to wheat seedling, therefore, wheat should be avoided after the sorghum.
  9. The crops should be harvested at physiological maturity so that sowing of next crop could not be delayed and every day of the year may be utilized for crop production.
  10. The farmers should know about post harvest processing of various crops and their products which may help in generating employment opportunities and in appreciating the value of the produce. This would also reduce glut in the market and a lower marketing competition will help in stabilising the prices of agricultural commodities.
  11. Crop insurance scheme should be launched for high input requiring crops or cash crops like potato, tobacco, cotton etc.
  12. The farmers must be acquainted with ill-effects of multiple cropping like gradual depletion in soil fertility and deficiency of certain micro-nutrients, gradual build up  in population of certain pest and disease pathogens etc. so that timely curative measures may be taken.
  13. The farmers should be frequently trained in latest techniques through demonstrations, field days, farmers’ meeting etc. for an efficient transfer of technologies and their proper adoption by the farmers.

a. Under assured irrigated conditions:

Maize-early potato-late potato-cucurbits

In this case the cucurbits are sown a few weeks before the potato tubers are lifted. Thus, the cucurbits start before the potato crop finishes.

  1. Maize-potato-onion-bhindi

Here in the same plot, potato variety, K. Chandramukhi is sown in October, onion is sown in furrows just after earthing, bhindi is sown in potato rows just after the digging of potato tubers and later in the standing crop of bhindi, maize is sown. This way there is no gap of time between two crops.

Last modified: Saturday, 3 August 2013, 10:28 AM