Question

How are farmers able to grow more than one crop on the same piece of land?

Answer 1

Hint: The proportion of land under cultivation of different crops at different times is referred to as cropping pattern. This displays when and where crops are planted in a specific land region. Any alteration to the cropping pattern would result in:
- The proportion of area devoted to various crops has shifted.
- Crops' spatial and temporal sequences vary.

Complete answer:
Growing two or more crops on the same field in the same year is known as multiple cropping. It is the expansion of cropping in both time and space without compromising soil fertility, i.e. more crops each year and more crops on the same piece of land at any given moment.

Multiple cropping has the following features:
- Growing two or more crops at the same time or at various seasons of the year on the same piece of land.
- Crops help in the re-fertilization of soils. Sowing pulses after rice, for example, increases the nitrogenous content of the soil.
- Crops are often short-duration types.
- The low intensity of irrigation and the usage of long-duration crop types are two limiting factors in the implementation of multiple cropping.

In a given year, multiple cropping refers to the planting of two or more crops on the same area. It comes in the following types:
i) Intercropping - Intercropping is the practice of growing two or more crops on the same piece of land at the same time in a certain row arrangement or in a defined ratio, as shown in the image. For example, in the diagram, Maize, Soybean, and Oats are cultivated in a specific row arrangement with a fixed cropping-ratio.
ii) Multi-storeyed cropping - Multi-storeyed cropping is the simultaneous cultivation of two or more crops of different heights on the same piece of land at the same time. Sugarcane + Mustard + Onion/Potato, for example.

Note: Tropical regions with more rainfall, higher temperatures, and a longer growing season are more likely to use a multi cropping system. It is advantageous to the farmer since it enhances agricultural output. It aids in the increased production of multiple crops on the same piece of land. Land fertility is also improved by multiple cropping.