CHAPTER 4
CROPPING SYSTEMS
Definition: cropping system is the pattern in which crops are grown in a given area over a period
of time and the technical and managerial resources that are utilized. In other words, when we talk
about the cropping system of a given area, we are not only interested in how those crops are
distributed on the field at any given time but also how this distribution changes over time. In
addition, the level of management and amount of resource inputs are integral aspects of a cropping
system.
1. Criteria for cropping systems classification
1. The distribution of crops in time, i.e. whether shifting cultivation, continuous cropping,
monoculture, or crop rotation is practiced.
2. The distribution of the crops in space on the field, i.e. whether intercropping or sole
cropping is practiced.
3. The level of management and resources utilized to produce the crop, i.e. whether
production is intensive or extensive.
4. The type of crop grown, i.e. whether orchard, arable cropping, pasturing, forestry, etc. is
practiced.
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2. Types of crop systems
2.1. Shifting cultivation
This is nonpermanent farming system whereby a piece of land is cleared, farmed for a few years
and then abandoned in preference for a new site. While the new site is being farmed, natural
vegetation is allowed to grow on the old site. Eventually, after several years of bush fallows, the
farmer returns to the original location. This is the most primitive form of land cultivation.
Disadvantages of shifting cultivation
1. It tends to discourage high level of inputs.
2. Because the farms stay in one location only for a short while, there is no incentive to invest
in permanent structures such as store sheds, irrigation and even certain pest control soil
erosion or soil conservation measure that may have a long-term benefit.
3. It requires a great deal of land to maintain the system.
4. Low efficiency in land utilization.
5. Low efficiency in labour utilization.
2.2. Continuous Cropping
In contrast to shifting cultivation, continuous cropping is the cultivation of the same piece of land
year after year. This means that soil management practices must be employed in order to maintain
high soil fertility. These practices include application of fertilizers, crop combinations and
rotations, and growing cover crops.
Advantages of Continuous Cropping
1. Land utilization under continuous cropping is extremely efficient. A very high percentage
of land is under crops at any given time.
2. It is possible and economically feasible, to erect permanent structures on the farm site.
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2.3. Crop Rotation
The practice of growing different kinds of crops, one at a time, in a definite sequence on the same
piece of land is referred to as crop rotation. In designing a good crop rotation, the farmer must
decide what crops to have in the rotation, in what sequence the crops should occur, and for how
many years or season each cycle of the rotation must run.
Factors that affect crop rotation
The choice of a rotation for a particular farm depends upon the following:
1. Adaptation of the crops to a particular soil, climate, and economic conditions.
2. Prevalence of weeds, plant diseases, and insect pests may also limit the kinds of crops that
can be grown in a locality.
3. Crops may be selected for rotation so as to spread labour throughout the year.
Principles of Crop Rotation
1. The target crop (the main crop) should be planted immediately after the legumes or fallow
period.
2. Crops which are deep feeders should alternate with shallow feeders.
3. Crops that are botanically similar or are likely to be attacked by the same diseases and pests
should not normally follow each other in the rotation.
4. The number of years for which each cycle of the rotation should run is determined by the
number of crops in the rotation, the length of their growing seasons and how frequent the
farmer can grow the target crop without running into problems of disease and soil fertility.
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Advantages of Crop Rotation
- It is an effective means of controlling diseases and pests.
- Crop rotation is the most effective practical method for controlling many farm weeds.
- The type of crop rotation where the field is divided into several plots, offers the farmer
some insurance against crop failure, and enables him to spread out his labour needs.
- Crop rotation is an effective means of reducing erosion in comparison with continuous
cropping.
2.4. Intercropping
The alternative practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field is called
intercropping. The various crops in the intercrop do not necessarily have to be sown or harvested
at the same time; the main requirement is that they are on the field at the same time for a significant
part of their growing periods.
Types of intercropping
- Row intercropping: This is when the various crops are grown in separate rows.
- Mixed cropping: This is when the various crops are grown intermingled more or less at
random with each other.
- Relay inter-cropping: This is when a second crop variety is sown between the stands of an
existing sole crop just before the first crop is harvested.
Crops combinations in intercropping is determined by:
- Tillage and special requirements of each crop.
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- The crop the farmer considers as target crop and which one is considered a subsidiary. This
influence the proportion of the crops.
- Nature of the crops themselves. For example, a few strands of pumpkin or melon occupy a
lot of land and have high economic yield, whereas rice strands, for example, would have
to be much more numerous to be meaningful.
Advantages of intercropping
- Higher yield advantage in growing crops together than growing each one separately.
- Efficient utilization of the resources available as crops differ in the periods of their peak
demands for light, water, nutrients and other resources.
- The component crop may complement each other in their use of space. For example, an
intercrop of a deep rooted crop can exploit various horizons of the soil.
- An intercrop may be able to utilize resources which the main crop may not be able to utilize
or which may even be disadvantageous to it.
- By having many crops growing simultaneously on the field the farmer is more or less
buffered against failure of one of the crop.
- Certain crops may exert specific beneficial effect on others. For example, in an intercrop
of a legume with a cereal crop, the cereal would benefit from the nitrogen fixed by the
legumes.
- Intercropping allows for a more uniform distribution of labour throughout the year.
- When one component of an intercrop combination fails, the other combinations are able to
utilize the resources that would have been available to the failed crop and so yield better
than they would have done otherwise. In other words, there is yield stability.
- The spread of diseases and pests is less rapid than in sole cropping.
