Discuss the importance of mixed cropping.
Answers
Answer:
Mixed cropping or inter-cropping or co-cultivation consists in growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land.
It does not always work well, but measurably good effects result when the right combination of crops are cropped together in a given location.
It can provide a higher income to the farmer. It can also reduce the impact of having one crop failing - disease, weather conditions,… - by having the second crop succeed.
It reduces the cost of fertilizer and chemicals. Especially if one crop is a legume as it fixes Nitrogen on its roots that can be used by other crops.
It requires suitable conditions:
Good sunlight conditions so that one crop does not slow down the growth of the other by shading it.
Good soil and water availability so that the 2 crops do not have to share a limited resources.
Similar or compatible fertilizer and chemical requirements/tolerance. A chemical beneficial to a crop could kill the other.
Low mechanization farming. Mechanical planting machines, tractors, sprayers, harvesters are not made to allow mixed cropping.
For these reasons, mixed cropping is more frequent in tropical developping countries. It is best suited for small-scale farming where harvesting is done by hand.
I often see up to 4 crops in Java Highlands by farmers who are working on half an acre or less. Rich volcanic soils, but no water for 3–5 months. From plantation to harvest, all is done by hand. The farmers make a decent income but it is a lot of work. Farmers often do not plant all the crops at the same time, but in overlapping succession: when the tomatoes start producing fruits, they plant chive, then cabbage…. They also had bean using the same stakes as the tomatoes.
Explanation:
Answer: the importance of mixed cropping is as follows
Explanation: in mixed cropping we can grow every species of spices we want
In mixed cropping it is easy to maintain everything