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Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field, a form of polyculture. [1] [2] The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop.
Polyculture is the growing of multiple crops together in the same place at the same time. It has traditionally been the most prevalent form of agriculture. [1] Regions where polycultures form a substantial part of agriculture include the Himalayas, Eastern Asia, South America, and Africa. [2]
When multiple crops are grown simultaneously, this is also known as intercropping. This cropping system helps farmers to double their crop productivity and their income. [1] But, the selection of two or more crops for practicing multicropping mainly depends on the mutual benefit of the selected crops.
A well-studied example of an agroforestry hillside system is the Quesungual Slash and Mulch Agroforestry System in Lempira Department, Honduras. This region was historically used for slash-and-burn subsistence agriculture. Due to heavy seasonal floods, the exposed soil was washed away, leaving infertile barren soil exposed to the dry season. [44]
Intercropping is a natural agricultural practice that often improves the overall health of the soil and plants, increases crop yield, and is sustainable. [ 158 ] One of the most significant aspects of indigenous sustainable agriculture is their traditional ecological knowledge of harvesting.
Economic study has calculated the return on investment of push-pull methods for farmers to be over 2.2 as compared to 1.8 for pesticide use, and .8 for monocrop. [ dubious – discuss ] [ 13 ] Although startup costs of push-pull technology are highly variable due to the requirements of labor to plant desmodium and Napier grass and purchase of ...
Diversity can be added both in time, as with a crop rotation or sequence, or in space, with a polyculture or intercropping (see table below). Note that the distinction between monoculture and polyculture is not the same as between monocropping and intercropping. The first two describe diversity in space, as does intercropping.
Intercropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in the same field. The field is still divided into strips, but the strips are narrower and contiguous, which helps facilitate modern farm machinery as well as allows adjoining plants to benefit from synergistic growth effects.