Question

Explain the two advantages of mixed cropping.

Answer 1

Hint: Mixed cropping involves growing two or more crops together in the same field to gain the maximum output.

Complete answer: Let us try to understand the cropping pattern in India. Cropping pattern refers to the practice of the usage of a proportion of land under cultivation in such a way so that the output from the field can be maximum and crop loss can be avoided.

There are three basic types of cropping patterns, namely, mixed cropping, intercropping and crop rotation. Let us get to know more about the Mixed cropping.

Mixed cropping, as the name suggests, involves mixing the seeds of two or more crop plants prior to sowing them, so that the crops are grown mixed with each other. For example, wheat and gram, both rabi or winter crops are grown together. Gram is a legume, so it enriches the soil with nitrogen that can be used by the wheat crop.

Mixed cropping has the following two advantages:
1) It reduces the risk of crop failure. In case one of the crops is lost, the other one will survive and the farmers will have something to harvest.
2) It allows proper usage of the soil and also maintains the quality of the soil.

Note: In intercropping, two or more crops are grown together, but there is a proper row pattern in which these are grown. For eg., Rice-Cauliflower-Onion-Summer gourds are grown together in alternating rows.
>Crop rotation refers to growing different crops on the same field in a pre-planned succession. For example, corn, wheat, oats can be grown in successive seasons on the same piece of land.