question_answer

              What criteria would you suggest to a farmer for the selection of crop for mixed cropping?

Answer:

                  Growing of two or more then two crops on the same piece of land is called mixed cropping. It minimise the risk of total crop failure due to abnormal weather condition.                     (1) The main criteria for selection of crop for mixed cropping are (i) Duration of crops One of the crops should be a long duration and other should be a short duration crop. (ii) Growth habit One of the crops should be growing tall and the other should be growing short. The component crops should have different canopy (i.e., the structure of leaves, stem and flowers found above the ground)(2) (iii) Nutrient demand One of the component crops should require lesser nutrients than the other crop. (iv) Root pattern One should be deep-rooted, while the other should be shallow-rooted. (v) Water requirement One of the component crops should require lesser water than the other.                                                                                (2)