intercropping

Mixed intercropping, as the name implies, is the most basic form in which the component crops are totally mixed in the available space.

Natural farmers attempt to mimic those virtues, thus creating a comparable ecosystem, and employ such advanced techniques as intercropping, companion planting and integrated pest management.

Techniques such as crop rotation, companion planting (also known as intercropping or mixed cropping), and the selective breeding of pest-resistant cultivars have a long history.

In areas with high population densities (c. 100 people km-2), intensive dryland agriculture is becoming increasingly important and in many cases there is no fallow period although intercropping is common.

Barker and Spence (1988) propose that the most effective way of combating these problems is to encourage the development of so-called food forests which involve the intercropping of food-producing trees and shrubs.

In agricultural systems, common practices include the use of buffer strips, grassed waterways, the reestablishment of wetlands, and forms of sustainable agriculture practices such as conservation tillage, crop rotation and intercropping.

Reference has already been made to the intercropping of trees with cereals, legumes, etc. in many African agricultural systems (section 4.4.1) to increase food production ad as a means of soil conservation, and to the planting of trees (section 7.2.3) to combat erosion and desertification.

According to a study of East Africa's smallholder farms, impacts of climate change on agriculture are already being seen there resulting in changes to farming practices such as intercropping, crop, soil, land, water and livestock management systems, and introduction of new technologies and seed varieties by some of the farmers.