Question

What are the advantages of intercropping and crop rotation?

Answer 1

Hint: A crop harvest depends, in part, on the nutrient availability. Different crops have different requirements for nutrients and water. Growing the same crop in the field continuously reduces soil fertility.

 Complete answer:
To answer this question, we should know what intercropping and crop rotation is.
Crops grown in the fields obtain the nutrients from the soil. Therefore, the soil becomes depleted of nutrients over time. To maximize the growth of crops while maintaining soil fertility, several practices are followed.
Intercropping is one such practice in which two or more crops are grown at the same time in the same field. Here, the crops grown together should have different nutrient requirements. Also, these crops are grown in a definite pattern. For example, the alternative rows of maize and pea plants grown in the same field represent intercropping.
As mentioned, intercropping includes growing of crops with different nutrient requirements. Therefore, the nutrients available in the soil are best utilized. Since the plants of two different crops are separated spatially in the same field, all the plants of a particular crop are not damaged by a specific pest or disease.
Now, let’s talk about crop rotation. As the name suggests, crop rotation is growing different crops sequentially in the same field. It also includes the selection of crops with different nutritional requirements and the availability of water or irrigation sources to meet the demand.
For example, a leguminous crop (peas or soybean) is grown after a non-leguminous crop such as maize. It would allow the soil to restore the nitrogen levels as depleted by the maize crop. The legumes have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their root nodules and therefore, do not require nitrogen supply. Growing different crops in succession also prevents the spread of pests, weed, and diseases.
So, we can conclude that both intercropping and crop rotation help in controlling pests, weeds, and diseases; maintain the soil fertility; provide better harvests. Intercropping also ensures the optimum consumption of available nutrients.

Note: Here, one should understand that selection of crops for intercropping and crop rotation is crucial. If two crops with the same nutrient requirements are grown together or sequentially, the benefits of these practices can not be observed. It is represented best by giving examples of leguminous and non-leguminous crops.