Cropping System

Course: B.Sc. Agricultural

Subject : Principle of Agronomy and Agricultural Meteorology

Unit: 2

Crop Rotation

• It refers to recurrent succession of crops on thesame piece of land either in a year or over alonger period of time.

• It is a process of growing different crops insuccession on a piece of land in a specificperiod of time, with an objective to getmaximum profit from least investment withoutimpairing the soil fertility.

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• In the rotation of crops, leguminous crops like pulses,beans, peas, groundnut and Bengal gram are sown in-between the seasons of cereal crops like wheat, maize andpearl millet.

• The leguminous plants are grown alternately with non-leguminous plants to restore the fertility of the soil. Whenthe cereal crops like rice, wheat, maize are grown in thesoil, it uses up a lot of nitrogenous salts from the soil. Ifanother crop of cereal is grown in the same soil, the soilbecomes nitrogen deficient. So by rotation a leguminouscrop is grown. There plants have the ability to fixatmospheric nitrogen to form nitrogen compoundsthrough the help of certain bacteria present in their root.These nitrogen compounds go into the soil and make itmore fertile.

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1) It should be adaptable to the existing soil, climatic andeconomic factors.

2) The sequence of cropping adopted for any specific areashould be based on proper land utilization. that can bemaintained yields and reduced soil erosion.

3) The rotation should contain a sufficient acreage of soilimproving crops to maintain and also build up the OMcontent of the soil.

4) In areas where legumes can be successfully grown, therotation should provide for a sufficient acreage of legumesto maintain the N supply of the soil.

Characteristics of Crop rotation or Principles of Crop rotation:

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5) The rotation should provide roughage and pasturagefor the live stock kept on farm.

6) It should be so arranged as to help in the control ofweeds, plant disease & insect-pests.

7) The rotation should be arranged as to make foreconomy in production & labourutilization exhaustive (potato, sugarcane) followed byless exhaustive crops (oilseeds & pulses)

8) The crops with tap roots should be followed by thosewhich have fibrous root system. This helps in proper &uniform use of nutrients from the soil & roots do notcompete with each other for uptake of nutrients.

9) The selection of crops should be problem and need/demandbase.

i) According to need of people of the area & family.

ii) On slop lands alternate cropping of erosion promoting anderosion resisting crops should be adopted.

iii) Under Dryland or limited irrigation, drought tolerant crops(Jowar, Bajra), in low lying & flood prone areas, waterstagnation tolerant crops (Paddy, Jute) should be adopted.

iv) Crops should suit to the farmer’s financial conditions, soil& climatic conditions.

10) The crops of the same family should not be grown insuccession because they act like alternate hosts for insectpests & disease pathogens and weeds associated with crops.

Advantages of Crop Rotation

1. There is an overall increase in the yield of crops due

to maintenance of proper physical condition of the

soil and its OM content.

2. Rotation of crops helps in saving on nitrogenous

fertilizers, because leguminous plants grown during

the rotation of crops can fix atmospheric nitrogen in

the soil with the help of nitrogen fixing bacteria.

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3. Rotation of crops help in weed control and pest

control. This is because weeds and pests are very

choosy about the host crop plant, which they attack.

When the crop is changed the cycle is broken.

Hence, pesticide cost is reduced.

4. There is regular flow of income over the year.

5. Proper choice of crops in rotation helps to prevent

soil erosion.

6. It supplies various needs of farmer & his cattle.

7. Crop rotation adds diversity to an operation.

‘The supervisory work also becomes easier.”.

Study of different crop rotation

1. Cotton – Groundnut, Sannhemp – Sugarcane – Groundnut.

2. Rice – Gram/ Sunflower.

3. Hy. Jowar – Wheat/ Jowar/ Gram.

4. Jowar – Sunflower – Groundnut.

5. Sunflower – Potato – Groundnut.

6. Groundnut – Wheat – Vegetables.

7. Sorghum – Wheat – Green gram – Cotton – Groundnut.

8. Bajara – cabbage – Groundnut – Cotton – Groundnut.

Type Rotations

One-year rotation1. Maize mustard

2. Rice-wheat

Two-year rotation1. maize-mustard-sugarcane-fenugreek (methi)

2. Maize-potato-sugarcane-peas

Three-year rotation1. rice-wheat-mung-mustard-sugarcane-berseem

2. Cotton-oat-sugarcane-peas-maize-wheat

Selection of crops for rotation

Vegetables and flowers are grown in areas close to the cities for higher income.

Mixed Cropping or Crop Mixtures

It is the process of growing two ormore crops together in the samepiece of land simultaneously. Thecereals are usually mixed withlegumes viz.

Jowar or Bajara mixed with Tur,udid, Green gram, Black gram, Gran.

Wheat is mixed with peas, gramor mustard.

Cotton is grown mixed with Tur orsunflower.

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Objectives

1) To get handy installments of cash returns especially inirrigated crops,

2) To achieve better distribution of labour throughoutthe year,

3) To utilize available space & nutrients to maximumextent possible,

4) To safe guard against hazards of weather, diseases &pests,

5) To secure daily requirements like pulses, oilseeds,fibers, etc.

6) To get balanced cattle feed.

In order to obtain the maximum benefit fromthe subsidiary crop mixed with the main crop, itshould have the following characteristics:

i) Not abstract the growth of the main crop,

ii) Mature earlier or later than of the main crop,

iii) Preferably be a legume,

iv)Have diffifferent growth habits & nutrientrequirements,

v) Have different rooting depths & ramification

vi) Not be very exacting in climatic requirements.

Companion Crops: Different crops are sown in differentrows. E.g.: 6 to 8 rows of cotton + 2 to 3 lines of Tur, 4 – 6rows of Jowar + 1 – 2 lines of Tur, Jowar + Mung/Urd,Jowar + Safflower.

i) Guard crops: Growing hardy or thorny crops(Mesta/Safflower) around the main crop (Jowar/Wheat)

ii) Augmenting crops: Growing sub-groups(augmenting) to maintain the yield of main crop.Jowar/Bajara + Cowpea

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Intercropping:

• Growing of two or more crops simultaneously onthe same piece of land (field). There is a cropintensification in both time and spacedimensions. There is intercrop competitionduring all or part of crop growth.

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Advantages of Intercropping

• Better use of growth resources including light, nutrients and water.

• Suppression of weeds

• Reduced plant and disease incidence

• Yield stability

• Ecological stability i.e. improvement of soil health and agro-ecosystem

• Other e.g. Physical support of one crop to another and home gardening leading to a more puriform food supply is a good example of realization of intercropping advantages.

• Labour intensive

• Control of pests and diseases or chemicalweed control may be difficult

• Mechanisation is difficult to realize

• Disadvantages caused by adverse competitiveeffects or by allelopathy

Disadvantages of intercropping

Difference between –Inter Cropping & Mixed Cropping

Sr. No Inter Cropping Mixed Cropping

1The main object is to utilize thespace left between two rows ofmain crop

To get at least one crop underfavourable conditions

2More emphasis is given to themain crop

All crops are cared equally

3There is no competition betweenboth crops

There is competition between allcrops growing

4Inter crops are of short duration& are harvested much earlierthan main

The crops are almost of the sameduration

5Sowing time may be same ordifferent

It is same for all crops

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Crops are sown in different rowswithout affecting the populationof main crop when sown as solecrop

Either sown in rows or mixed withoutconsidering the population

It refers to planting of succeeding crop before harvesting thepreceding crop like a relay race where a crop hands over the landto next crop in quick succession.

Relay Cropping:

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• Advantages:

• 1. Getting one time more production, suitable for monocropped zones( like Sundarban regions ).

• 2. No plowing required. Save a lot of money.

• 3. Less amount of water is needed, environment friendlyfarming technique.

• 4. Increase soil fertility through nitrosomonas bacteria.

• Disadvantages:1. Required 20% more seeds than usual.2. As the plants grow zigzag, sometimes need more labour.3. In some areas of sundarban it failed as there was no scope for irrigation and there was no rain from Sept-march.

Ratoon cropping or rattooning

• It refers to revising a cropwith regrowth coming outof roots or stalks afterharvest of the crop.

E.g.: Sugarcane or Jowarrattooning.

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Alley cropping

• is the cultivation of food, forage or specialty crops between rowsof trees. It is a larger version of intercropping or companionplanting conducted over a longer time scale. Alley cropping canprovide profitable opportunities for row crop farmers, hardwoodtimber growers and nut growers

Monocropping or monoculture,

It refers to the presence of a single crop in afield. This term is often used to refer togrowing the same crop year after year in thesame field; this practice is better described ascontinuous cropping, or continuousmonocropping.

• Two or more crops are grown on the samefield in one year. Intensification of cropping isin temporal and spatial dimension.

Multiple cropping:

Sequential cropping:Growing two or more crops in sequence on the samefield in a year. The succeeding crop is sown /plantedafter the preceding crop has been harvested. Cropintensification is only in time dimension and there is nointercrop competition.

Some variations of sequential cropping are• Double cropping (sequential cropping ):

Growing two crops per year in sequence. is the practice ofplanting a second crop immediately following the harvest of afirst crop, thus harvesting two crops from the same field inone year. This is a case of multiple cropping, which requires aseason long enough and crops that mature quickly enough toallow two harvests in one year

• Triple cropping:

Growing three crops per year in sequence.

• Quadruple cropping:

Growing four crops per year in sequence.

• Relay cropping:

A significant part of the life cycle of the, second crop overlapswith the cropping cycle of the first crop.

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Reference/Sources

- Text book and web sources

- www.agriinfo.in

- ecourses.iasri.res.in

- Principles of Agronomy by T. Yellamanda Reddy and G.H. Sankara Reddy