Cropping system can be defined as the different patterns or ways of growing crop in the farm.A farmer may be cultivating only one type of crop or many types of crops on the same piece of land, at the the same time in each season of growing.
Types of Cropping System
There are many cropping system which includes
1. Mono cropping or sole cropping
2. Mixed Cropping
3. Inter cropping
4. Alley Cropping
Mono cropping or sole cropping - This is a system of cropping in which only one crop is cultivated on a farm or the same piece of land at the same time.Mono cropping is usually practised by large scale farmer that has money to invest and produce in large quantities.Crop planted in mono cropping includes oil palm, cocoa, rubber, kolanut,rice,millet,maize etc are grown.
In mono cropping ,crops usually remain in particular farm or land for many years where permanent crops like trees are grown, while the case of annual crops, the farmer grows a crop e.g maize which is harvested at maturity and planting another one on these same piece of land that year.
This system is good and it can be successfully practised in a place where there plenty farm land.
Advantage of Mono cropping
1. Mono cropping encourage farmers specialisation
2. It encourages the use of machines because they harvest in large quantities.
3. Through mono cropping, management of crops is made easy because pest of other crops will not affect it.
4.The farm yield can easily be increased by improving some farm operation.
Disadvantages of mono cropping
1. The system is very risky. Farmer may loose all his crop, if there's an outbreak or epidemic of pest , diseases flood or drought on the sole crop.
2. There will be surplus or good harvest will could affect the price of that particular crops. Since there is no good storage facilities.
3. There may be build of pest on farm
4. Farmer may be discourage to produce the crop die to low pricing which could lead to scarcity in the next season.
Mixed Cropping - This is a system of growing of two or more crops on the same farm land at the same time, during the same growing seasons. This system is very common among small scale farmers in West Africa. Crops grown in mixed cropping includes: yam ,maize, cassava, cocoyam, pepper, okra and melon. The crops are planted in mixed form on the same piece of land.Mixed cropping is practised in country where is no enough farmland.Mixed cropping can be categorized into two forms namely: intercropping and inter planting or catch cropping.
Inter cropping
This is a system in cropping system of mixed where a crop is grown in-between another crops , and the crops that are planted first are the ones harvested last while the crops planted last is the one harvested first.For examples, yam can be inter planted with melon.
The yam is planted first while melon is planted last but melon is harvested first. The principle of inter-cropping is that early growing and maturing crop is planted among the late growing maturing crop, which is normally planted first, but the short season crops that is always annual is harvested first.
Inter-planting or catch cropping
This is a system the planning of two crops at different times, and the crop planted first is harvested first before the second crop.For examples, maize is planted first before yam or cassava is planted, and the maize is harvested first, while yam is harvested later in the year.
Advantage of mixed cropping
1. Mixed cropping is are due to that the two crops cannot fail at the same time.That is , it creates insurance for farmers.
2. Mixed cropping protect the soil from soil erosion by the root system as leaves is shed by crops
3. The spread of pest and diseases is not much in mixed farming
4. Planting leguminous crops with another crops will improve the fertility of the soil.
Disadvantages of Mixed Cropping
1. It discourage using machine because if a machine is used to harvest one crop the other crop vwill be destroyed.
2. It will be difficult to use chemicals e.g herbicides to control weeds which will make some plants to dies.
3. There will be competition between the crops for nutrients like air, water, space snd light which may reduces the yield and survival rate of the less competitive crops.
Alley Cropping - This system is process whereby foods crops in planted between hedge-rows of farm trees, which must undergo regular prunning every fix to six weeks.The species of crops that can be used in practising Alley cropping includes: nitrogen fixing gliricidia and Leucaena.The spacing between plants and trees is always 4 metres,this allow enough space for the food crops.The soil nutrients are recycled through the decompression or the organic residue from trees.
Advantages of Alley Cropping
1. The prunned leaves which have low survival rate helps in the feeding of ruminants animals in dry season as fodder.
2. The shades that the plants provides suppress weed growth.
3. Alley cropping serves as a good alternative to bush fallowing.
4. The leaves that are prunned serves as mulching materials.
5. The branches or stems can be used as yam stake or firewood.
6. The nitrogen fixing plants fix nitrogen for food crops.
Disadvantages of Alley Cropping
1. Nitrogen supply may fall short to the crops, if the non- nitrogen plants are used.
2. This system may be difficult to practice on a large scale.
Continuous Cropping - This a system which involves of growing the same types of crops, on the same piece of land every year.The system is practised in place where there is a scarcity of land and dense population, or where environmental conditions limits the types of crops to be planted. Crops such like millet can only be grown in Northern parts.This system is very stressful because the farm land loose fertility quick which makes the farmer but organic and inorganic manure.
Advantages of Continuous Cropping
1. A lot of time , energy, money is saved, since farmers doesn't have to clear the farmland every year.
2. It helps in the economise uses of farm land
Disadvantages of Continuous Cropping
1. Continuous cropping exposes the soil erosion
2. It leads to rapid loss of soil fertility since farm land does not rest.
3. A lot of money is spent in buying fertilizers.
4. Encourage the low yield of crops
Factors that determines the adoption of a cropping system
There are many factors that determines the use of certain Cropping system.These includes:
1. Climatic Factors - These factors include rainfall,relative humidity, temperature.
2. Soil Factors - The soil Factors includes topography, physical and chemical conditions, availability of nutrients in the soil.
3. Economic Factors- These factors include transportation facilities, marketing structures and price.
4. Social Factors - This includes people's tastes and local beliefs, which determines the types of crops to be grown and the cropping system that should be adopted.
5. Technological Factors- The technological advancement of any country, can in no small way contribute to the type of cropping system one may adopt.
0 Comments