Mixed Cropping

Mixed cropping is growing of two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land. It is also known as multiple cropping. This type of cropping leads to an improvement in the fertility of the soil and hence, increase in crop yield because when the two crops are properly chosen the products and refuse from one crop plant help in the growth of the other crop plant and vice-versa. Mixed cropping is an insurance against crop failure due to abnormal weather conditions.

Some successful mixed cropping practices are:

Soyabean + Pigeonpea

Maize + udad dal (Black gram)

Pigeonpea + Mung dal (Green gram)

Groundnut + Sunflower

Sorghum + Pigeonpea

Wheat + Chickpea

Barley + Chickpea

Wheat + Mustard

Cotton + Groundnut

Mixed cropping has proved successful because of the right selection of crops.

Criteria for selection for selection of crops

Agriculturists and farmers select component crops for mixed cropping based on certain criteria.

Duration of crops:

• One crop is of long duration and the other is of short duration.

Growth habit:

• The two component crops grow to different heights with different canopy.

Root pattern:

• One crop component is deep rooted whereas the other is shallow rooted.

Water need:

• One crop component requires comparatively lesser water than the other.

Nutrients demand:

• One crop component requires more nutrients and the other requires lesser nutrients.

Mixed cropping is done to reduce the competition between component crops for light, nutrients and water. If one crop fails due to shortage of moisture or insufficient availability of nutrients, the other crop can cover the risk of complete failure.

Advantages of mixed cropping

No risk of crop failure

The risk of total crop failure due to uncertain monsoon is reduced if two crops of different nature are grown simultaneously as a mixed crop.

Variety of Produce

A variety of produce could be produced from a single crop to meet the varying requirements of the family like cereals, pulses, vegetables etc.

Increase in yield

Component crops have a complimentary effect on one another. For example, legume crops have a beneficial effect on cereal or non-legume crops as they help in fixing nitrogen in the soil. There is higher yield by this method.

Improvement in soil fertility

The growth of cereal crops depletes the soil of nutrients. Growing legumes will help increase the nitrogen content in the soil. Thus, by the right choice of component crops soil fertility is improved.

Minimizing pest damage

Crops of a particular species are more prone to a particular type of pest (weed, insects, diseases) infestation. When different types of crops are grown together chances of pest infestations are reduced or diluted.

Due to increasing needs and reducing available land resources, there is a need for increasing productivity per unit area and time. In this context, traditional mixed cropping has been retailored and the system of intercropping has been introduced. Intercropping is a specialized type of mixed farming wherein two or more crops are grown simultaneously in the same field in definite rows. They are grown in ratios 1:1, 1:2, 1:3.

Comparison between mixed cropping and intercropping

Mixed cropping	Intercropping
Target to minimize risk of crop failure	Target increase productivity per unit area
Seeds of two crops are mixed before sowing	Seeds of two crops are not mixed
No set pattern of rows	Set pattern of rows
Difficult to apply fertilizer to individual crop	Fertilizer can be placed as per need of the crops
Spraying for pest control to individual crop is difficult	Pesticides can be easily applied to individual crop
Harvesting and threshing of crops separately not possible	Both crops can be easily harvested and threshed separately
Marketing and consumption of only mixed produce is possible	Produce of each crop can be marketed and consumed separately

The above table gives a comparison between mixed cropping and intercropping.

Another type of mixed cropping is border cropping.

Here plants of a different species are planted along the border of the field. Example castor plant around a vegetable field. Yet another type of mixed cropping is the use of strips of a different species at intervals within the crop.