Intercropping: Should Large Scale Farms Be Interested?
Intercropping: Should Large Scale Farms be Interested?
As an Agriculture and Environmental Plant Science (AEPS) major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, I have briefly learned about an agricultural technique called intercropping in several of my classes. I have never learned about it in detail, but these classes sparked my interest to investigate the topic further. I am specifically interested in better understanding the pros and cons and if intercropping is a viable option for large-scale farms. My family operates a large-scale almond farm in the central valley of California, so I wanted to find out if intercropping would benefit my family’s business. “ …intercropping has received scant attention from the standpoint of research, policy and planning.” Several articles echoed my findings that despite the promising implications of intercropping, the subject has not been thoroughly studied. In this paper I hope to compile the available research into a clear and concise pool of information.
Before I dive into the pros and cons of intercropping, I need to define the term for those who do not already know. Intercropping is “Growing crops in mixture, through seed mixing or various spatial arrangements, involving row or strip alternations or patches of different crops in the same field at a time.” This is in comparison to mono cropping where the entire plot of land is planted with one type of crop. Mono cropping is the predominant method for growing agricultural produce by large-scale American farms. However, small farms all around the world already implement intercropping with great success. I am especially interested in finding out if these large farms, which provide a huge amount of relatively cheap food for people all around the world, would benefit from switching to intercropping.
There are three main types of intercropping systems. The first and most common is, “strip” or “row” intercropping. This system involves long rows of plants grown alongside rows of
As an Agriculture and Environmental Plant Science (AEPS) major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, I have briefly learned about an agricultural technique called intercropping in several of my classes. I have never learned about it in detail, but these classes sparked my interest to investigate the topic further. I am specifically interested in better understanding the pros and cons and if intercropping is a viable option for large-scale farms. My family operates a large-scale almond farm in the central valley of California, so I wanted to find out if intercropping would benefit my family’s business. “ …intercropping has received scant attention from the standpoint of research, policy and planning.” Several articles echoed my findings that despite the promising implications of intercropping, the subject has not been thoroughly studied. In this paper I hope to compile the available research into a clear and concise pool of information.
Before I dive into the pros and cons of intercropping, I need to define the term for those who do not already know. Intercropping is “Growing crops in mixture, through seed mixing or various spatial arrangements, involving row or strip alternations or patches of different crops in the same field at a time.” This is in comparison to mono cropping where the entire plot of land is planted with one type of crop. Mono cropping is the predominant method for growing agricultural produce by large-scale American farms. However, small farms all around the world already implement intercropping with great success. I am especially interested in finding out if these large farms, which provide a huge amount of relatively cheap food for people all around the world, would benefit from switching to intercropping.
There are three main types of intercropping systems. The first and most common is, “strip” or “row” intercropping. This system involves long rows of plants grown alongside rows of
Cited: Abdel-Monaim, Montaser, Kamal A Abo-Elyousr, and LTD ELSEVIER SCI. "Effect of Preceding and Intercropping Crops on Suppression of Lentil Damping-off and Root Rot Disease in New Valley - Egypt."Crop Protection, 32 (2012): 41-46. "Intercrop." What Is Intercropping? N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. . JODHA, NS, and LTD FRANK CASS CO. "Intercropping in Traditional Farming Systems." Journal of Development Studies, 16.4 (1980): 427-442.