- What is the use of mixed farming ?
What is mixed cropping? State any two advantages of mixed cropping.
Define intercropping with example.
Compare mixed cropping and intercronning
Answers
Answer:
uses or advantages ?
I' hv mentioned the advantages
Mixed Farming :
Advantages of Mixed farming:
Farmers can keep their fields under continuous production.
It enhances the productivity of the farm land
It increases the per capita profitability
Both farmings compliment each other.
It enhances the productivity of the farmer also.
Reduce dependency on external inputs and costs. In the example of mixed cropping of animal husbandry and crop farming the crops and animals components can complement and support each other. For example, the crop farming gives feed to the animals, and in turn, the animals can supply fertilizers to the crop. So this reduces the need and cost of fertilization and animal feed. The animals (such as cattle and sheep) can also perform weeding which reduces the need for herbicides.CIPAV system from Columbia, for example, incorporates fuel generation where crop wastes are fed into a biodigester which then generates fuel for use in the farm (for running farm machinery and equipment). This reduces external fuel dependency.
A simpler mixed farming system is aquaponics where the fish wastes are useful as fertilizers for the vegetables (like lettuce) and the lettuce, in turn, clean the water for the fish. Another similar setup and benefit is rice-fish farming in northeast Thailand and China where fish (like tilapia and carp) are bred in the rice field waters.
Because the mixed farming system recycles much of its wastes, this reduce external inputs (like fertilizers and pesticides). This in turn reduce greenhouse gases emissions, whether directly or indirectly because less fossil fuels are required in the production and distribution of fertilizers and pesticides due to lower demand.
It stabilizes the income of the farmer because the farmer is not depending solely on one activity. Should one activity fail (due to low price or pests or diseases), the farmer can still get income from the other activities.
Mixed Cropping
Mixed cropping is the practice of growing two or more crops together on the same piece of land in one crop season. For example, wheat, gram and mustard are grown as mixed rabi crops in dry regions of Northern India. It has two advantages. The loss of soil nitrogen is replenished by gram which fixes atmospheric nitrogen and secondly, if the wheat crop does not succeed, the farmer gets some return from gram and mustard.
INTER CROPPING AND MIXED CROPPING ARE THE SAME