CROP ROTATION
Crop rotation may also be defined as a process of growing different crops in succession on a piece of
land in a specific period of time with an object to get maximum profit from minimum investment
without impairing the soil fertility.
Principles and Advantages
If the same crop is repeatedly grown on the same land it is referred as monoculture or monocropping
(e.g., rice-rice-rice) whereas crop rotation is the repetitive cultivation of an orderly succession of
different crops and crops and fallow on the same land. One cycle may take several years (one year or
more than one year) to complete e.g., rice-rice-pulse (one year), sugarcane–ratoon sugarcane–Rice (2
or 3 years), banana–ratoon banana–rice (3 years).
Principles of Crop Rotation
• The crops with tap roots (deep rooted) should be followed by those, which have fibrous
(shallow) root system. This helps in proper and uniform use of nutrients from the soil.
• The leguminous crops should be grown before non-leguminous crops because legumes fix
atmospheric N into soil and add more organic matter to the soil.
• More exhaustive crops should be followed by less exhaustive crops because crops like potato,
sugarcane, maize etc., need more inputs such as better tillage, more fertilizers, greater number
of irrigations etc.
• Selection of the crop should be demand based.
• The crop of the same family should not be grown in succession because they act as alternate
hosts for insect pests and diseases.
• An ideal crop rotation is one, which provides maximum employment to the farm family and
labour and permits efficient use of machines and equipments and ensures timely agricultural
operations simultaneously maintaining soil productivity.
• The selection of the crops should be problem based i.e.
• One sloppy lands, which are prone to erosion, an alternate cropping of erosion promoting
and erosion resisting crops like legumes should be adopted.
• In low-lying and flood prone area, the crops, which can tolerate water stagnation, should be
• Under dry farming the crops, which can tolerate the drought, should be selected.
• The selection of crops should suit farmer’s financial conditions.
• The crop selected should also suit the soil and climatic conditions.
Advantages of Crop Rotation
• Crop rotation helps in maintaining of soil fertility, organic matter content and recycling of plant
nutrients. All crops do not require the plant nutrients in the same proportion. If different crops
are grown in rotation, the fertility of land is utilized more evenly and effectively.
• Restorative crops like heavy foliage crops and green manure crops included in rotation increase
the nitrogen and organic matter content of the soil.
• Helps in control of specific weeds like Bermuda grass, Cyprus (sedges) and Trianthema
• Avoids accumulation of toxins and maintains physical properties of soil.
• Controls certain soil borne pests and disease.
• Reduces the pressure of work due to different farm operations in a stipulated period of time. History Middle Eastern farmers practiced crop rotation in 6000 BC without understanding the chemistry, alternately planting legumes and cereals. In the Bible chapter of Leviticus 25, God instructs the Israelites to observe a 'Sabbath of the Land'. Every seventh year they would not till, prune or even control insects The Roman writer Cato the Elder recommended that farmers "save carefully goat, sheep, cattle, and all other dung" In Europe, since the times of Charlemagne, there was a transition from a two-field crop rotation to a three-field crop rotation. Under a two-field rotation, half the land was planted in a year, while the other half lay fallow. Then, in the next year, the two fields were reversed. Under three-field rotation, the land was divided into three parts. One section was planted in the autumn with winter wheat or rye. The next spring, the second field was planted with other crops such as peas, lentils, or beans and the third field was left fallow. The three fields were rotated in this manner so that every three years, a field would rest and be fallow. Under the two-field system, if one has a total of 600 acres (2.4 km2) of fertile land, one would only plant 300 acres. Under the new three-field rotation system, one would plant (and therefore harvest) 400 acres. But, the additional crops had a more significant effect than mere productivity. Since the spring crops were mostly legumes, they increased the overall nutrition of the people of Northern Europe.
From the end of the Middle Ages until the 20th century, the three-year rotation was practiced by farmers in Europe with a rotation of rye or winter wheat, followed by spring oats or barley, then letting the soil rest (leaving it fallow) during the third stage. It has long been recognized that suitable rotations – such as planting spring crops for livestock in place of grains for human consumption make it possible to restore or to maintain a productive soil.
A four-field rotation was pioneered by farmers, namely in the region Waa land in the early 16th century and popularised by the British agriculturist Charles Townshend in the 18th century. The system (wheat, turnips, barley and clover), opened up a fodder crop and grazing crop allowing livestock to be bred year-round. The four-field crop rotation was a key development in the British Agricultural Revolution.
George Washington Carver studied crop rotation methods in the United States, teaching southern farmers to rotate soil-depleting crops like cotton with soil-enriching crops like peanuts and peas.
In the Green Revolution, the traditional practice of crop rotation gave way in some parts of the world to the practice of supplementing the chemical inputs to the soil through top dressing with fertilizers, e.g. adding ammonium nitrate or urea and restoring soil pH with lime in the search for increased yields, preparing soil for specialist crops, and seeking to reduce waste and inefficiency by simplifying planting and harvesting
CROP ROTATION
Crop rotation may also be defined as a process of growing different crops in succession on a piece of
land in a specific period of time with an object to get maximum profit from minimum investment
without impairing the soil fertility.
Principles and Advantages
If the same crop is repeatedly grown on the same land it is referred as monoculture or monocropping
(e.g., rice-rice-rice) whereas crop rotation is the repetitive cultivation of an orderly succession of
different crops and crops and fallow on the same land. One cycle may take several years (one year or
more than one year) to complete e.g., rice-rice-pulse (one year), sugarcane–ratoon sugarcane–Rice (2
or 3 years), banana–ratoon banana–rice (3 years).
Principles of Crop Rotation
• The crops with tap roots (deep rooted) should be followed by those, which have fibrous
(shallow) root system. This helps in proper and uniform use of nutrients from the soil.
• The leguminous crops should be grown before non-leguminous crops because legumes fix
atmospheric N into soil and add more organic matter to the soil.
• More exhaustive crops should be followed by less exhaustive crops because crops like potato,
sugarcane, maize etc., need more inputs such as better tillage, more fertilizers, greater number
of irrigations etc.
• Selection of the crop should be demand based.
• The crop of the same family should not be grown in succession because they act as alternate
hosts for insect pests and diseases.
• An ideal crop rotation is one, which provides maximum employment to the farm family and
labour and permits efficient use of machines and equipments and ensures timely agricultural
operations simultaneously maintaining soil productivity.
• The selection of the crops should be problem based i.e.
• One sloppy lands, which are prone to erosion, an alternate cropping of erosion promoting
and erosion resisting crops like legumes should be adopted.
• In low-lying and flood prone area, the crops, which can tolerate water stagnation, should be
• Under dry farming the crops, which can tolerate the drought, should be selected.
• The selection of crops should suit farmer’s financial conditions.
• The crop selected should also suit the soil and climatic conditions.
Advantages of Crop Rotation
• Crop rotation helps in maintaining of soil fertility, organic matter content and recycling of plant
nutrients. All crops do not require the plant nutrients in the same proportion. If different crops
are grown in rotation, the fertility of land is utilized more evenly and effectively.
• Restorative crops like heavy foliage crops and green manure crops included in rotation increase
the nitrogen and organic matter content of the soil.
• Helps in control of specific weeds like Bermuda grass, Cyprus (sedges) and Trianthema
• Avoids accumulation of toxins and maintains physical properties of soil.
• Controls certain soil borne pests and disease.
• Reduces the pressure of work due to different farm operations in a stipulated period of time. History Middle Eastern farmers practiced crop rotation in 6000 BC without understanding the chemistry, alternately planting legumes and cereals. In the Bible chapter of Leviticus 25, God instructs the Israelites to observe a 'Sabbath of the Land'. Every seventh year they would not till, prune or even control insects The Roman writer Cato the Elder recommended that farmers "save carefully goat, sheep, cattle, and all other dung" In Europe, since the times of Charlemagne, there was a transition from a two-field crop rotation to a three-field crop rotation. Under a two-field rotation, half the land was planted in a year, while the other half lay fallow. Then, in the next year, the two fields were reversed. Under three-field rotation, the land was divided into three parts. One section was planted in the autumn with winter wheat or rye. The next spring, the second field was planted with other crops such as peas, lentils, or beans and the third field was left fallow. The three fields were rotated in this manner so that every three years, a field would rest and be fallow. Under the two-field system, if one has a total of 600 acres (2.4 km2) of fertile land, one would only plant 300 acres. Under the new three-field rotation system, one would plant (and therefore harvest) 400 acres. But, the additional crops had a more significant effect than mere productivity. Since the spring crops were mostly legumes, they increased the overall nutrition of the people of Northern Europe.
From the end of the Middle Ages until the 20th century, the three-year rotation was practiced by farmers in Europe with a rotation of rye or winter wheat, followed by spring oats or barley, then letting the soil rest (leaving it fallow) during the third stage. It has long been recognized that suitable rotations – such as planting spring crops for livestock in place of grains for human consumption make it possible to restore or to maintain a productive soil.
A four-field rotation was pioneered by farmers, namely in the region Waa land in the early 16th century and popularised by the British agriculturist Charles Townshend in the 18th century. The system (wheat, turnips, barley and clover), opened up a fodder crop and grazing crop allowing livestock to be bred year-round. The four-field crop rotation was a key development in the British Agricultural Revolution.
George Washington Carver studied crop rotation methods in the United States, teaching southern farmers to rotate soil-depleting crops like cotton with soil-enriching crops like peanuts and peas.
In the Green Revolution, the traditional practice of crop rotation gave way in some parts of the world to the practice of supplementing the chemical inputs to the soil through top dressing with fertilizers, e.g. adding ammonium nitrate or urea and restoring soil pH with lime in the search for increased yields, preparing soil for specialist crops, and seeking to reduce waste and inefficiency by simplifying planting and harvesting
