Mixed Cropping Systems Quiz

Cropping Systems

• Cropping systems describe how crops are grown over time in a specific area. It includes the resources used for this activity.
• It encompasses all cropping patterns, along with their interactions with farm resources and factors like technology, environment and social factors.
• Objectives of study include distinguishing types of cropping systems (e.g., cropping, farming, agroforestry).
• Identifying the importance of each system by understanding its guiding principles is also an objective. Another objective is assessing the merits and downsides of each system.

Other Production Systems

• Farming systems include all parts of a farm: livestock, household, cropping patterns, and production methods.
• Agroforestry involves strategically planting trees with other crops or animals for increased benefits to land users and to the environment.

Cropping Systems Continued

• Cropping systems vary. Crops can be planted together at the same time, or sequentially (one after another), or separately, and in short intervals on the same land area.
• There are five main cropping systems used in agriculture.

Mixed Cropping System

• This involves growing two or more crops together on the same piece of land without specific arrangement.
• This system is useful in unstable environments.
• Crops can be planted at the same or different times of the same season, either in rows or broadcast.

Mixed Cropping System Continued

• The objective is to maximize growing conditions and produce crops, especially for subsistence farming.

• Mixed cropping has various forms: mixed crops (growing different crops together in rows or broadcast), companion crops (growing different crops in separate rows), guard crops (surrounding the main crop to protect it from pests or as deterrents), and augmenting crops (supplementing the main crop's yield).

Mixed Cropping System Continued (Advantages)

• Prevents total crop failure during unfavorable conditions (pest attacks, disease, fire).
• Low labor cost.
• Helps maintain soil fertility
• Provides farmers with enough produce for their daily needs.
• Simple management.

Mixed Cropping System Continued (Disadvantages)

• Non-scientific approach.
• Difficult to carry out all agricultural practices as needed.
• Difficult to calculate the total planting population
• Not using mechanization to planting.
• Incorrect planting distances which would optimize yield

Multiple Cropping System

• This involves growing two or more crops in a single year.

• Considered an intense cropping system allowing multiple crops on the same land.

• Has two subgroups:

  • Relay cropping: Growing two crops sequentially. One crop starts before the other and is harvested before the other is fully grown.
  • Overlapping cropping: Growing two crops together for a period longer than relay cropping.

Multiple Cropping System (Objectives)

• Increase income from a land area within a particular time period.
• For commercial gain, not subsistence farming.

Multiple Cropping System (Principles)

• Employ high-yielding, short-duration crops.
• Crops must respond favorably to agricultural inputs.

Multiple Cropping/Disadvantages

• Requires significant technical proficiency.
• May be susceptible to disease and pests.
• Potentially high initial costs

Intercropping System

• An intensive system where a supplementary crop is grown alongside a main crop in rows.
• The objective is to use the space between main crop rows to maximize yield per unit area.
• Types include parallel cropping (planting crops in parallel rows), and companion cropping (planting crops alongside each other).

Intercropping (Principles)

• Crops should complement each other (not compete).
• Subsidiary crops grow quickly, so they use the available light and nutrients available in the early stages of the main crop's growth
• Similar agricultural practices are preferred for both plants.

Intercropping (Advantages)

• Increased nutrient utilization from different soil depths.
• Higher biomass production per area, and often per time.
• Greater overall yields.
• Improved crop quality and quantity

Intercropping (Disadvantages)

• Potential competition.
• Not suitable for all land types or situations.
• Requires extra labor in some cases.

Crop Rotation System

• Crop rotation involves planting different crops in a planned sequence on the same land over multiple years.
• The objective is to ensure that the land is used efficiently while also maintaining soil fertility.
• Principles often highlight the importance of planting different types of crops and avoiding planting crops from the same family, in successions. Plants that exhaust the nutrients in soil, should precede plants that do not exhaust the nutrients.

Crop Rotation System (Advantages)

• Efficient land use.
• Checks soil erosion.
• Breaks pests and disease cycles.

Crop Rotation System (Disadvantages)

• Needs sound knowledge of plant physiology and agronomy.
• Some crop rotations are less suitable to larger-scale operations
• It may be more challenging on smaller plots

Mono-cropping System

• Growing a single type of crop consistently on the same land over an extended period, as opposed to rotating crops.
• The objective is to grow large quantities of a single crop type, either annually or perennially.

Mono-cropping System (Advantages)

• Allows for crop specialization on a large scale
• Facilitates mechanization and standardization.
• Easier to manage specific cultural practices for the selected crop type.

Mono-cropping System (Disadvantages)

• Increased risk of pests and diseases.
• Potentially depleted nutrients and soil degradation.
• Vulnerable to total crop failure if conditions become unfavorable, due to monoculture.

Assessments of Cropping Systems

• The assessment of cropping systems helps in understanding how the yield is developed as a function of the land use.
• Metrics include cropping intensity index, land equivalent ratio, and relative crowding coefficient.

Test your knowledge on mixed cropping systems with this quiz. Explore the principles of mixed cropping, the differences between various cropping strategies, and the advantages they offer. Perfect for students and enthusiasts of agricultural sciences.