Cropping Systems, Agroforestry and Sustainable Land Use
Cropping Systems, Agroforestry and Sustainable Land Use tests how land is kept productive and covered, how multiple crops are arranged in time and space, and how trees are combined with crops and livestock.
Cropping systems
- Monocropping, multiple cropping, intercropping (two or more crops in definite rows), mixed cropping (seeds broadcast without a row plan), sequence cropping, relay cropping and strip cropping.
- Cropping intensity = (gross cropped area / net sown area) × 100; it can exceed 100%.
- Crop rotation breaks pest cycles and balances nutrients; legumes add nitrogen.
Agroforestry
- Agrisilviculture (trees + crops), silvopasture (trees + pasture), agrisilvopasture (all three), alley cropping, shelterbelts, windbreaks and home gardens.
- Suitable species: poplar, eucalyptus, subabul, khejri, ber, bamboo; vetiver and agave for bund stabilisation.
- Benefits: wind protection, shade, fuel and fodder, leaf litter, reduced runoff; costs: root and light competition.
Land capability
- Classes I–IV are arable with increasing limitations and conservation needs; V–VII suit pasture, forestry or wildlife; VIII is unfit for production.
Worked example
Net sown area 5 ha, gross cropped area 8 ha (because of a second crop). Cropping intensity = (8/5) × 100 = 160%. Reasoning: gross area counts every crop season, net area counts the field once; a ratio above 100% shows double cropping.
Traps
Treating intercropping and mixed cropping as synonyms; assuming cropping intensity cannot exceed 100%; placing class V land under regular cultivation; ignoring tree–crop competition in agroforestry design.