Advantages of Intercropping by Centurion University.ppt

Advantages of Intercropiing

1. Requirements for successful
intercropping
•Thetimeofpeaknutrientdemandsofcomponent
cropsshouldnotoverleap.
Eg.Maize(50DAS)+greengram(35DAS)
•Competitionforlightshouldbeminimumamongthe
componentcrops.
•Complementary shouldexistbetweenthe
componentcrops.Theyshouldnotbecompetitive.
•Thedifferencesinmaturityofcomponentcrops
shouldbeatleast30days.

2. •Thesubsidiarycropshouldbeofshorterduration
andoffastergrowinghabitstoutilizetheearly
slowgrowingperiodofmaincropandtheymust
beharvestedwhenmaincropstartsgrowingviz.
fastersesamum,urdormunggrownwithred
gramcompletetheirlifecyclebySeptember,the
periodsincewhenredgrampicksupbranching
andattainsrapidgrowth.Autumnplanted
sugarcaneremainsdormantaftergermination
untilFebruaryduringwhichpotato,berseem,
lucerne,mustard,etc.couldbetaken
successfullyascompanionintercrops.
•Thecomponentcropsshouldhavesimilar
agronomicpractices.

3. •Erectgrowingcropsshouldbeintercroppedwith
covercropslikepulsessothatthesoilerosion
andweedpopulationcouldbereducedor
checked.Thisalsohelpsinreducingevaporation
lossofwaterfromsoilsurface.
•Thecomponentcropsshouldhavedifferentroot
depthssothattheydonotcompetefornutrients,
waterandrootrespirationamongthem.

4. •Astandardplantpopulationofmaincropshould
bemaintainedwhereasthatofsubsidiarycrops
theplantpopulationcouldbeincreasedor
decreasedasperdemandofthesituation.
•Componentcropsofsimilarpestanddisease
pathogensandparasiteinfestationsshouldnot
bechosen.
•Theplantingmethodandmanagementshould
besimple,lesstimetaking,lesscumbersome,
economicalandprofitablesothatitmayhave
wideradoptability.

5. Advantage of Intercropping
•Intercropping gives additional yield and
income/unit area than sole cropping.
•It acts as an insurance against failure of crops.
•Inter-crops maintain the soil fertility.
•Intercropping reduces the soil runoff.
•It controls weeds.
•Intercrops provide shade and support to the other
crop.
•Inter cropping system utilizes resources efficiently
(land, light, nutrient, water) and combined
productivity is increased.
•Intercropping with cash crops is highly profitable.
•It helps to avoid inter-crop competition and higher
number of crop plants are grown per unit area.
•Assures better cash flow.

6. Disadvantages of intercropping
•Yield may decrease as the crops differ in their
competitive abilities (if complementarity is not
observed).
•Management of intercrops having different cultural
practices seems to be difficult task.
•Improved implements cannot be used efficiently.
•Higher amount of fertilizer or irrigation water
cannot be utilized properly as the component
crops vary in their response of these resources.
•Harvesting is difficult and to some extent
laborious.