MANAGEMENT OF

INTERCROPPING SYSTEM

AISWARYA M K
2018-41-507
 INTERCROPPING
- Intercropping is defined as the agronomic practice of
growing two or more crops on the same field at the same
time.
- Intercropping is as a multiple cropping system, in which
two or more crops species planted simultaneously in a
field during a growing season.
- It is a way to increase diversity in an agricultural
ecosystem.
MAIN GOAL

- Produce greater yield

on a given piece of
land by making use
of resources that
would otherwise not
be used by a single
crop.
 PRINCIPLES OF INTERCROPPING
- The proper spatial arrangement must be done to
maximize cooperation and minimize the competition
between the crops selected for intercropping.
- There should be an optimum density of intercrops to
avoid overcrowding.
- The crops of different maturity dates should be
preferred to reduce the competition for resources
during peak demand period.
- The selected crop must be compatible with the main
crop in terms of water, nutrient and soil requirement.
- The intercrop should not be an alternate host for pest
and disease of the main crop.
 TYPES OF INTERCROPPING
1. Mixed intercropping : Growing two or more
crops simultaneously with no distinct row
arrangement.
Eg: Wheat + Mustard
Fodder maize + Fodder cowpea
2. Row intercropping: Growing two or more
crops simultaneously with one or more crops
planted in rows.
Eg: Cotton + Chilli
Groundnut + Maize
3. Strip intercropping: Growing two or more crops
simultaneously in different strips wide enough to
permit independent cultivation but narrow enough
for the crops to interact agronomically.
Eg: Maize + Soybean + Oat
Ragi + Groundnut
4. Relay intercropping: Growing two or more
crops simultaneously during part of each one’s
life cycle. A second crop is planted after the first
crop has reached its reproductive stage of
growth, but before it is ready to harvest.
Eg: Rice + Pulses
Potato + Wheat
 BENEFITS
- Ecological balance
- Diversity and stability of fields.
- Better utilization of resources including light,
nutrients and water.
- A complementary sharing of plant resources, such as
Nitrogen from N fixing plants.
- Reduction damage by pests, diseases and weeds.
- Increasing the rate of crop production, with the
advantage of simultaneously decreasing the risk of
total crop reduction.
- Increases the quantity and quality of products.
- Promote greater yield and stability to the crop; even
if one crop fails due to unforeseen situations, another
crop will yield and gives income.
- Improvement of soil health and agro-ecosystem.
 MANAGEMENT
- As the crops are grown simultaneously, management
practises should, therefore aim to provide favourable
environment to all the components, exploit favourable
interactions among the component crops and minimize
competition among the components.
- The management of intercropping systems is complex and
management changes will need to be carefully considered
 1. SEED BED PREPARATION
- The objective of land preparation is to establish an ideal zone for
the seedling that minimizes the stress.
- Deep rooted crops responds to deep ploughing while for most of
cereal shallow tillage is sufficient.
- The crops with small seed require fine seedbed, cotton, and
maize, planted on ridges, certain crops on flat seedbed. Since
more than one crop is planted in intercropping, the seedbed is
generally prepared as per the needs of base crop.
- Sugarcane planted in furrow and intercrop sown on ridges.
- In Groundnut + red gram intercropping system, flat seedbed is
prepared for sowing crops.
 2. VARIETIES
- The varieties of component crop in intercropping system should be
less competitive with the base crop and peak nutrient demand period
should be different from the base crop.
- Minimum difference between the maturity periods of two
components should be of 30 days.
- The varieties selected for intercrop should have thin leaves, tolerant
to shading and less branching. The characteristics of the base crop
should be as in sole crop.
- Hybrids varieties of sorghum like CSH - 6, CSH - 9 are suitable for
intercropping with long duration variety of red gram like C11 and
LRG 30 because of wider gap
between maturity periods.
 3. SOWING
- Practices of sowing are slightly altered to accommodate inter
- crop in such a way that it cause less competition to the base
crop.
- Widening inter row spacing of cereal component to
accommodate more rows of component legume crop improves
legume yield and efficiency of the intercrop system.
- Sowing of base crop is done either as paired row, paired –
wider row or skip row. The spacing between two pairs of rows
is increased to accommodate the inter crop. Such row
arrangement of base crops within the rows improves the
amount of light transmitted to the lower component crop,
which can enhance legume yield in cereal + legume
intercropping system.
- The sowing of base crop and intercrop is also
done in fixed ratios. The intercropping system
of groundnut + red gram is either in 5: 1 or 7:
1 ratio and sorghum + red gram in 2: 1 ratio.
- For higher yields, base crop population is
maintained at its sole crop population and
intercrop population is kept at 80 percent of its
sole crop population.
 4. FERTILIZER APPLICATION
- When the legume is associated with a cereal crop in
intercropping system, legume supplement a portion of
nitrogen required of cereal crop; the amount may be of 20
kg/ha by legumes. Cereal + legume intercropping, is
therefore; mainly advantageous under low fertilizer
application.
- With regards to phosphorus and potassium, one eighth to
one fourth of the recommended dose of intercrop is also
added in addition to recommended dose of base crops to
meet the extra demand.
 5. WATER MANAGEMENT
- Intercropping systems are generally recommended for
rainfed crops to get stable yields. The total water used
in intercropping system is almost the same as for sole
crops, but yields are increased. Thus water-use
efficiency of intercropping is higher than sole crops.
- The component crops differ on their capacity to
withstand excess or difficult moisture conditions.
However the irrigation schedule followed for sole crops
is suitable even for intercropping system.
- Scheduling irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.6 to 0.8 or
irrigation at one bar soil moisture tension is suitable for
most of the systems.
 6. WEED MANAGEMENT
- Weed problem is less in intercropping system compared
to their sole crops. In certain situations, intercrops are used as
biological
agents to control weeds.
- Black gram, green gram, cowpea in sorghum and cowpea in banana
reduce weed population and hand weeding can be avoided by this
method.
- In some intercropping systems like maize + groundnut, rice +
tapioca, maize + tapioca, weed problem is similar to their sole crops.
- The growth habit of genotype used in intercropping has a
great influence on weed growth.
- Though weed problem is less, weed control measures are necessary
in intercropping system. But the labour required for weeding
is less.
- Second weeding is not necessary because of crop coverage.
 7.PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT
- Pest and diseases are believed to be less in intercropping system due to
crop diversity than sole crops.
- Some plant combination may enhance soil fungicide and antibiotics
through indirect effects on soil organic matter content.
- The spread of the diseases is altered by the presence of different crops.
- Little leaf of Brinjal is less, when Brinjal is sheltered by maize or
sorghum, as the insect- carrying virus first attacks maize or sorghum;
virus infestation is less on Brinjal.
- Non – host plant in mixtures may emit chemicals or odour that affects
the pests, thereby protecting host plants.
- The management of nematode population has been applied mainly in
the form of decoy and trap crops.
- Eg: Brinjal(Crop) – Sesamum orientale(Decoy crop) – against
nematode Meloidogyne incognita
 REFERENCE
• http://www.hillagric.ac.in/edu/coa/agronomy/lect/a
gron4711/Lecture%205%20Farming%20System%2
0Components-Cropping%20Systems.pdf
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-a
nd-biological-sciences/intercropping
• https://www.agrihortieducation.com/2016/09/intercr
opping-principles-and-types.html
THANK YOU