SHeLF 5, Intercropping – When 2 Or More Crops Share Field Space And Contribute More To Farmer’s Income

As the above images, both from Philippine sources, would indicate, the harvests (plural) are/will be abundant – for the benefit of the farmer and his family. This is intercropping, “the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field” (Wikipedia, (en.wikipedia.org). Whether the farmer harvests the crops simultaneously or one after the other, the sum total of the values belong to him. I’m sorry to say that Filipino farmers do not practice intercropping, missing the values “2 in 1”.

(image sources: top, dreamstime.com, bottom, ews-kt.com)

Wikipedia says there are 4 ways to do intercropping: (1) mixed intercropping, (2) row cropping, (3) temporal, and (4) relay cropping.

In Batangas, I myself have seen pineapple plants growing under coconut trees, and I have written about it (see my 21 June 2017 article, “The Oils War Continues...” iPursuit Of Knowledge, blogspot.com).

Wikipedia points out:

The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop.

Yes. If you plant a legume like beans along with a non-legume corn, the beans automatically provide the additional nitrogen for the corn’s benefit. Literally, “This is 2 greater than 1!”

Samantha Glaze-Corcoran et al say (sciencedirect.com):

The primary consideration in intercropping is selecting compatible crops to minimize competitive inhibition, allow for ease of field management, and increase profit per land unit compared to monocultures.

The farmer has to select compatible crops and avoid competitive crops, to ensure that his profit increases as against that of single cropping (monoculture).

I know that rice grown in the Philippines is essentially monoculture – rice, rice, rice! year-end and year out. I don’t know why IRRI, PhilRice and/or UP Los Baños do not teach intercropping to the farmers!

Ranga.nr says (05 Dec 2019, “Intercropping | 10 Types, Advantages and Disadvantages,” farmpractices.com):

Intercropping is a method of growing more than one crop in the same piece of land during the same crop season.

This is an environmentally friendly pest control, crop protection, and yield enhancement approach.

[Actually, the whole long article has “12” and not only “10” types of intercropping – poor editing, sorry!]

It results in increased and better nutrient recycling in the soil, stable yields, and control of pests and diseases with enhanced biodiversity.

I like the definition of the term:

Intercropping is… growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same land.

As simple and beautiful as stated above. Yet neither IRRI, PhilRice nor UPLB preach it!

Ranga.nr points out the difference between the main (base) crop and the intercrop:

The base crop is grown as a main source of income on the farm. A suitable intercrop is grown between the vacant spaces of the main crop.

To me, as an agriculturist, the two crops can be the main crops at the same time – the farmer just has to find out how to allocate the space for the two crops to maximize their yields. Ta-DA!@517

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