As a true testament and advocator of Intelligent farming, crop rotation is a regenerative agricultural practice that is superior, systematic, and fruitful. Dominating farms all over the world, this technique involves the plantation of crops in a calculative and sequential manner so that different crops are grown on the same plot of land over various seasons. This diversification involves somewhere between two to twelve crops that undergo carefully planned and well-executed rotations; all based on a deep understanding of crop families and their specific needs.

Setting firm grounds across India, crop rotation is a widely acclaimed practice that farmers swear by! Various government programs such as National Food Security Mission – Commercial Crops (NFSM – CC) program recognize and promote crop rotation as a system that has the potential to not just increase farmer’s profitability and income but also the power to have a positive social and environmental impact. It is practiced in almost every state of India including Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan, whereby the main crops rotated are cumin, sesame, pulses, wheat, cereal, paddy, and sugarcane among others.

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Key Points of Consideration

To maximize the benefits of the crop rotation cycle, there are some important points to consider before planting of crops:

1. Farmers must have a deep insight of the market demand and the subsequent crop value. The fluctuating demand and supply equation might increase the risks and decrease the profit-making capacities of the farmer. Therefore, one must choose crops according to the needs and demands of the market.
2. Alternating leguminous crops with non-leguminous crops is an integral technique to maintain soil health and fertility. While non-leguminous crops like wheat and maize consume a lot of nitrogenous salts from the soil, Leguminous crops such as beans and peas are known as nitrogen fixers that produce nitrogen compounds that add more organic matter to the soil. Alternating between the two ensures that there is no compromise and depletion of the nutrients present in the soil.
3. The farmers must pick the plant crops keeping in mind the soil, climate, and financial conditions. Some crops are best grown under certain climatic and soil conditions as opposed to others.
4. There are some crops such as corn and sugarcane that consume high amounts of nutrients from the soil. Constant farming of these crops ultimately leads to complete damage and depletion. Rotating it with non-exhaustive crops such as pulses that consume less amounts of nutrients from the soil, leads to constant replenishing of the soil and increased strength.
5. The sequence of cropping must alternate between erosion-promoting crops such as maize and erosion-resisting crops such as green gram.
6. Crops of the same family must not be planted successively since they might act as hosts for various pests and diseases.
7. Livestock is an important part of agricultural farming, therefore, in the clycle of crop rotation, fodder crops must be planted to feed the animals.
8. Ideally, there must be a balance of planting crops that consume high amounts of moisture such as corn and replacing them with crops that are low moisture users such as barley. This helps in improving the quality of soil and making the agricultural season successful.
9. To avoid competition between crops for nutrients, a tap root crop should be planted followed by a fibrous root crop.
10. The rotation of crops should be well-planned to efficiently utilize land, farm labor, machinery, and equipment and increase the subsequent employment rate.
11. Some crops that are drought tolerant such as Bajra are perfect for areas with limited irrigation systems, while some crops such as paddy are water stagnation crops that are ideal for low-lying and flood-prone areas.

Crop Rotation has an ultra-edge over other techniques for a host of reasons, such as:

• Preventing soil erosion:

If supervised rightly and systematically, crop rotation can contribute in the prevention of soil erosion. During the non-cropping season, cover crops such as oats are planted that act as a blanket for other crops in addition to adding organic matter to the soil. Their root system prevents soil erosion, enhances the structure of the soil, improves water retention capacity, and creates a nutrient balance in the soil.

• Breaking the cycle of pests and disease:

With a deeper understanding of the crops and their placement, a farmer can effectively control the domination and spread of pests and diseases on his farmland. Since these pathogens live in the soil, they can target certain crops to deter its growth and weaken the soil’s health. If some crops are susceptible to certain pests and get actively targeted by them, this cycle can easily be interrupted by planting another crop of a different family after each season. By changing the sequence of plantation, one can disrupt the chances of pests targeting one specific crop.

• Creating a nutrient balance:

The soil is loaded with vital nutrients for the healthy growth of crops. However, continuous planting of certain crops can create a disharmony, leading to a depletion of nutrients from the soil. By rotating crops with varying nutrient needs, the soil won’t get exhausted off of a specific nutrient which would inevitably lead to a balanced nutrient profile and increased soil fertility.

• Weed control:

Weeds fight with crops for essential nutrients, space, and sunlight, with the aim to destroy their growth. By alternating between different crops, weeds come face to face with different and new environmental conditions, which ultimately hinders their survival.

• Biodiversity:

Rotating of diverse crops indicates the involvement of unique nutrients and carbon compounds that attract a variety of beneficial microbes such as insects, birds and other microorganisms. This soil microbial activity and biodiversity leads to healthy plant growth and improved soil productivity.

• Reduced dependence on fertilizers:

The need for fertilizers gets lessened since one crop might provide the missing nutrients to the soil. Naturally rejuvenating the soil gains the upper hand over artificial inputs.

• Enriched soil structure:

Soil compaction is a major hindrance to the growth of the plant; it indicates less pores in the soil, therefore less chances of water, sunlight, and other nutrients to reach the crop. This poor soil structure can become better with the help of crop rotation, which enables the planting of different types of crops with roots that reach varying depths.

• Water conservation:

Crop rotation improves the soil structure and with that, water can easily be infiltrated and retained. Additionally, when different crops are planted in a sequence, some might require water from deep soil layers while others might get moisture from surface water. This contributes to minimized water wastage and increased water use efficiency.

• Increased yield:

The whole cycle of planting of crops in a systematic manner is a sustainable practice that decreases pollution, lowers production costs, improves soil fertility, and raises the comprehensive crop yield and profits.

Crop rotation and Intercropping: Two sides of the same coin

The interaction of soil and plant vis-à-vis two cropping patterns is widely known: Crop rotation and Intercropping. While both primarily focus on the diversification of crops, their means differ. The former includes temporal crop diversification while the latter incorporates spatial crop diversification.

Crop rotation:

• Two or more crops are grown sequentially on the same plot of land, over various seasons and years.
• This technique focuses on restoring and retaining the soil’s nutrients.
• Practiced in an orderly manner, crops are planted keeping in mind the soil’s comprehensive health, climate and other influential factors so as to create harmony between the different crops planted.

Intercropping:

• Two or more crops are grown simultaneously on the same plot of land, during the same season.
• This technique ensures that even if one crop fails due to any circumstance, there are other crops to back up on.
• All the crops that are grown together are done in such a manner that their needs and requirements mutually complement each other.

Both these techniques ensure fewer pests and weeds, greater yield and maintenance of soil health, making them remarkably flourishing and popular cropping patterns around the country.

Limitations of crop rotation:

1. Loss of specialization:Crop rotation becomes successful when in each season, different crops are planted. This means that the farmer is unable to specialize in one single crop for an extended period, leading to the possibility of lower yield.
2. Huge machinery requirements: Some crops might need specific type of equipment and tools, thereby raising the investment costs.
3. Requires deeper level of knowledge and skills: Crop rotation is not a result of accident, but a consequence of detailed understanding and systematic execution. Learning about this system and excelling in it, requires skills that might be time and cost-consuming for farmers to obtain. Additionally, under-education might do more harm than good.
4. Prone to interferences: Some climatic conditions, soil type, and geographical areas favor certain types of crops as opposed to others. This poses a threat and hindrance to the sound development of other crops that require a different soil, temperature and topography to grow.

Crop rotation is a blessing for farmers, provided that it is practiced skillfully. With its assorted benefits and abundant rewards for soil health, farmer’s yield, and the environment, it has gained superiority over other monoculture production systems. Meticulous planning, careful crop selection, choosing a rotation sequence that stretches through seasons, and finally executing the plan, make crop rotation the base on which organic farming joyfully rests. Fieldking, one of the leading manufacturers of farm implements, provides the necessary implements required by the farmer throughout his farming journey. Inconsistent support of farmers and their farming practices including crop rotation, Fieldking ensures that farmers get the best yield from their land with efficiency!