Intercropping
Topic: Primary Activities: Gathering, Pastoralism, Agriculture and Mining · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 1 "The Story of Indian Farming"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Primary Activities"
Meaning
Intercropping means growing two or more crops together on the same field at the same time. The crops are often planted in alternate rows. A deep-rooted crop is often paired with a shallow-rooted one, or a cereal with a legume (pulse) that adds nitrogen. This keeps the soil fertile and spreads risk: if one crop fails, the other may still give a harvest. It is used in mixed farming and is common in India's rain-fed (rain-watered) farming.
Example
On the dry farms of the Deccan Plateau in Maharashtra and Karnataka, farmers grow pigeon pea (arhar) in rows between sorghum (jowar) in the same season.
Don't confuse with
- Crop rotation: here crops are grown one after another on the same field. Intercropping grows them side by side at the same time.