Cropping Patterns in India

Cropping Patterns in India

  • Cropping Pattern refers to the proportion of area under cultivation of different crops at a point of time, changes in this distribution over time, and the factors which determine these changes.
  • Due to low technological intervention cropping pattern in India is heavily dependent on rainfall, climate, temperature, and soil type.

Types of Cropping Pattern

Monocropping

  • Monocropping refers to the practice of growing one agricultural species in the land season after season.
  • The major disadvantage of monocropping is that it can reduce the fertility of the soil and destroy the structure of the soil.
  • Due to it resulting in spread of pests and diseases, chemical fertilizers and pesticides are required to upgrade production.

Crop Rotation

  • Crop Rotation refers to the practice of changing the type of crops grown in the field is changed yearly or seasonally.
  • Practicing crop rotation can improve the soil structure and fertility and helps to control weeds, pests, and diseases.

Sequential Cropping

  • Sequential Cropping pattern involves growing two different crops in the same field, one after the other in the same year.

Intercropping

  • Intercropping refers to the practice of growing two or more crops on an equivalent land simultaneously in a definite row pattern.
  • This helps to minimize the risk of the failure of one of the crops and provides insurance against the crop failure due to abnormal weather conditions and increases productivity per unit area.

Mixed Intercropping

  • Mixed Intercropping involves planting the main crop in rows and then spreading the seeds of the intercrop without any row arrangement.
  • While this method reduces the work during sowing, it makes weeding, fertilization, and harvesting difficult.

Stir Cropping

  • Stir Cropping involves planting broad strips having a width of 3–9 m of several crops in the field.
  • This allows farmers to rotate crops by planting each strip with a different crop in the next year.

 

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