Cropping System

AGR-111
•CROPPING SYSTEM: Cropping system is a
pattern of crops for a given piece of land or the
order in which the crops are cultivated on a piece
of land over a fixed period of time.
•There are two types of cropping system:
—a) Mono cropping
—b) Multiple cropping
•Methods of Cropping
•I. Monocropping/Sole Cropping:
One crop or variety is grown alone
in pure stands at normal density
season after season or year after
year in the same field
•e.g. in canal irrigation under
waterlogged conditions only rice
can be cultivated
•II. Multiple Cropping: Cultivation of
two or more crops on the same
piece of land in one calendar year.
The intensification of cropping is in
terms of time and space
dimensions.
• Multiple cropping systems can be
classified as follows.
A. Sequential cropping
B. Intercropping
C. Mixed cropping
A. Sequential Cropping: Growing of two or
more crops in sequence on the same piece
of land in the same year.
The succeeding crop is planted or sown only
after harvest of the preceding crop. The
crop intensification is only in terms of time
dimension. Farmers will manage only one
crop at a time.
(feasible in areas receiving > 850 mm rainfall
and soil with moisture storage capacity of
200 mm/m depth)
 Four Types of Sequential Cropping
•Double Cropping:
Cultivation of two crops
in succession on a piece
of land in a year.
cowpea+bajra,
wheat+soybean
•
• Triple Cropping:
Cultivation of three
crops in succession on a
piece of land in a year.
• pearl millet+ potato+
groundnut
 Four Types of Sequential Cropping

1.Quadruple Cropping: Cultivation of

four crops in succession on a piece of
land in a year.
maize+toria+potato+wheat
2.Cropping/Ratooning: Cultivation of
crop re-growth after its harvest is
rationing. It is also a type of sequential
cropping. In this, more than one
harvest is done from one sowing/
planting. Thus, ratooning consists of
allowing stubbles of the original crop
after harvesting and to raise another
crop. e.g. sugarcane, mulberry

Sugarcane Ratoon
 B. Intercropping
Growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece
of land. Crop intensification is in terms of both time and
space dimensions.
B. Intercropping
Main Crop/Base Crop: It is one which is planted
at its optimum population in an intercrop
situation and the second crop is planted in
between the rows of main or base crop, with a
view to obtain some extra inter crop yield
without sacrificing the main or base crop yield.
Intercrop: The short duration crop is raised in
widely spaced crop for getting an additional
income from the same piece of land.
Component Crop: It is used to refer either of the
individual crops making the intercropping
situation.
• Criteria for Selection of Crops for
Intercropping System:
Care should be taken to select the crops with
different growth habits, root growth, duration and
families.
The following points to be considered while
selecting crops for intercropping system.
1. Tall growing crops with short growing crops.
2. Bushy crops with erect growing crops.
3. Fast growing crops with slow growing crops.
4. Deep rooted crops with shallow rooted crops.
5. Short duration crops with long duration crops.
6. Legume crops with non-legume crops.
7. Crops should have least allelopathic effect.
8. Crops selected should be of different families to
avoid pests and diseases.
• Benefits of Intercropping:
1. Better utilization growth resources like light,nutrients and moisture.
2. Economy in space and time.
3. Suppression of weeds.
4. Serves as insurance against failure of any one of the component crops.
5. Reduces soil crust formation.
6. Improves soil fertility.
7. Ecological stability.
8. Controlling of soil erosion.
9. Serves as physical support or shading to some crops.
10. Additional yield from unit area.
11. Additional income.
12. Provides farmer’s daily needs.
13. Provides employment and distribution of labour.
14. Cultivation practices for main crop supplement the requirement of
companion crop.
15. Control of pests and disease
• Limitations of Intercropping
1. Labour intensive.
2. Differential maturity and problem of harvesting.
3. Serves as alternate hosts for pests and diseases.
4. Control of pests, diseases and weeds is difficult.
5. Problem for intercultural operations.
6. Mechanization is difficult.
7. Competitive effects among component crops.
8. Allelopathic effect
• Types of Intercropping:
1. Mixed Intercropping/Mixed Cropping: Growing of two
or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land
with no distinct row arrangement.
2. Row Intercropping: Growing of two or more crops
simultaneously on the same piece of land with distinct
row arrangement. It is simply referred as ‘intercropping’.
3. Patch Intercropping: Growing of two or more crops
simultaneously on the same piece of land in patches.
4. Strip Intercropping: Growing of two or more crops
simultaneously on the same piece of land in strips wide
enough to permit independent cultivation.
5. Relay Intercropping/Relay Cropping: Growing of two or
more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land
during the part of life cycle of each. The second crop is
planted after the first crop has reached its reproductive
stage of growth but before it is ready for harvest.
6. Parallel Intercropping/Parallel Cropping: Growing of two or
more crops which have different growth habits and which
have a zero competition between each other and both of
them express their full yield potential.
7. Multi Storied Intercropping/Multi Storied Cropping:
Growing of two or more crops of different heights on the
same field at the same time. It is commonly practiced in
orchard and plantation crops.
8. Alley Intercropping/Alley Cropping: Food crops are grown
in alleys formed by hedge or shrubs or trees. It is an
agro-forestry system.
9. Guard Crops: The main crop is grown in the centre,
surrounded by hardy or thorny crops. These crops
protect the main crop.
10. Trap Crops: These crops are grown in the main
cropped field in definite rows to trap insect pests.
11. Filler Cropping: Growing of short duration crops in
between the newly established perennial crops for few
years to fill the space and to utilize the resources.
C. Mixed Cropping: Growing of two or more crops together
on the same piece of land is called as mixed cropping. In
this, the seeds of different crops are mixed together and
then sown either in lines or they are board casted.
This system is not scientific and it causes problem in
performing all agricultural operations and harvesting of
crops.
This system of cropping is generally practiced in areas
where climatic hazards such as flood, drought, frost etc.
are frequent and common. The farmers always fear that
their crops will fail. The time of sowing of all the crops is
same; however they may mature either together or at
different times.
 CROP ROTATION

•Growing of different crops alternatively on the same piece of

land in a definite sequence
•Process of growing different crops in succession on a piece
of land in a specific period of time
•Objective to get maximum profit from least investment
without impairing the soil fertility.
•Season Kharif to Rabi
 CROP ROTATION
Kharif Rabi
• Rice • Wheat
• Maize • Chickpea
• Soybean • mustard
• Moong bean

• Rotation of one year

— Rice/Maize- Wheat
— Rice/Soybean- Chickpea
— Rice/Maize- mustard
• Rotation of two years
— Rice- wheat- finger millet- chick pea
 Principles of Crop Rotation
1.. The crops with tap roots should be followed by those with fibrous root system. This helps in
proper and uniform use of nutrients from the soil. [different nutrient depletion zones] Kharif- deep
(pigeon pea or cotton)then Rabi- shallow (wheat or pea) Phosphorus (insoluble), K (In exchangable)
2. The leguminous crops should be grown after non-leguminous crops. Legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen
in the soil and add more organic matter to the soil. Rice-soybean/groundnut/pulses/chickpea OR Rabi
(wheat)- green manure crop
Additional 25- 30 Kg N per ha, act as cover crop and Organic matter addition, no weeds due to heavy
cover crop. Rice- wheat (then take short duration legume crop)
3. More exhaustive crops (Maize) should be followed by less exhaustive and restoring crops (Legume,
Mustard). Both exhaustive (fertilizer contamination, poor availability of micronutrient)
—High water requirement (rice), low water requirement crop (not rabi Maize)

4. The crop of the same family should not be grown in succession because they act like alternate hosts
for pests and diseases. Poaceae- not followed by poaceae
 Principles of Crop Rotation

5. An ideal crop rotation is one which provides maximum employment to

the family and farm labour, farm machineries and equipments are
efficiently used.
6. Selection of the crop should be demand based e.g. near to city
(vegetable), rice mill (paddy).
7. The selection of crops should be climate based (sugarcane, rice- high
water requiring).
8. The selection of crops should suit to the farmer’s financial conditions.
9. The crops selected should also suit to the soil and climate conditions
(heavy soil:-no root crop, ground nut or potato, very light soil- no paddy).
10. Resources of farmer e.g. Labour, machinery, tubewells, equipment
should be utilized efficiently in a year
 Benefits of Crop Rotation

•1. Beneficial to succeeding crops.

2. Soil fertility is restored by fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
3. Encourages soil microbial activity.
4. Improves physico-chemical properties of the soil.
5. Avoids accumulation of toxins (HCN etc.).
 Benefits of Crop Rotation

6. Soil is protected from erosion.

7. Controls pests and diseases.
8. Controls weeds in the fields.
9. The family and farm labour, power, equipment and machineries
are well employed.
10. Differential extraction of nutrients and moisture from different
depths.
11. Proper utilization of all the resources and inputs.
 Limitations of Crop Rotation

•1. Specialization in one crop is not possible.

2. Requirement of equipment and machineries varies from
crop to crop.
3. Allopathic effect of preceding crop.
4. Serves as alternate hosts for pests and diseases.
 Summer fallow
•Practice of growing a crop every other year.
•Controlling weed growth during off year
•Used exclusively in semi-arid regions
•To accumulate sufficient moisture during the fallow year to grow
a crop the following year
•To break crop disease cycle
 Interactions in a cropping system
•Competitive/ non- competitive or complementary
•Allelopathy – any direct or indirect harmful effect that one
plant has on another
—Toxic chemicals left in soil by the roots o sunflower crop inhibits
germination of succeeding crops
—Stubbles of sorghum with high C: N Ratio cause immobilization of
nitrogen, causing N deficiency in succeeding crops.
—Wheat crop that follows ice suffers from high density of weed
(Phalaris minor)
—Destruction of soil structure after rice crop
•
 Interactions in a cropping system
•Annidation:- complementary interaction which occurs
both in space and time
•Roots of legume crops and their residue add N to soil
•Annidation in space-
—multistoried cropping coconut garden , planting of shade trees
in coffee, tea and coca plantation
—Shallow root system (setaria) + deep rooted (red gram) in
intercropping
•
 Interactions in a cropping system
•Annidation in time-
—
Widely varying duration crops, with peak demand for light and
nutrient occur at different times e.g. Sorghum+ redgram,
groundnut + redgram and maize+ greengram
—
(early maturing crop-+ late maturing crop)
•
Other complementary effects in intercropping
system
•Legume+ non legume; Rhizospheric microflora and
mycorrhiza of one species lead to mobilization and
greater availability of nutrients
•Physical support by one species to other; erect crop may
improve the yield of climber e.g. coconut + pepper, Maize
+ beans
•TALLER CROP as a wind barrier ; Maize+ groundnut,
Onion+ castor, Turmeric+ castor
•
•
 Cropping system management
• To provide favourable environment to all components
1. Seedbed preparation-
➢ ridge planting of cotton and maize, flat seed bed for rice,
➢ Sugarcane planted in furrows and intercrop sown on ridges
➢ Flat seedbed for groundnut+ redgram
➢ Trenches and ridges for rice+maize
 Cropping system management
• To provide favourable environment to all components
2. Varieties-
30 days difference in duration of crops
Less competing with base crop
3. Sowing
Fixed ratios of base crop and interc rop
Ground nut+ red gram : 7:1 or 11: 1
 Cropping system management
• To provide favourable environment to all
components
4. Nutrient Management
legume + nonlegume intercrop may reduce the
requirement N by 20 kg per ha
Extra 1/8 th Phosphorus or Potassium is added to
meet the extra demand
5. Water management
Scheduling irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.6 tp 0.8

ratio of the amount of irrigation water (IW) applied to cumulative pan evaporation (CPE approach known amount of
water is applied when the cumulative pan evaporation reaches a predetermined level.
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