ISSN: 2639-216X
Authors: Rahman KMZ*
Intercropping is a system of multiple cropping practice where two or more crops are grown simultaneously on the same field with a definite row arrangement. Crops from different species and/or families are generally used as component crops in the intercropping system. Intercropping cereal with legume is recognised as the most popular agricultural practice in many developing countries of the world. The cereal species is grown as a main crop and the legume species is grown for secondary importance. To date, four basic patterns of intercropping have been described based on spatial arrangement of component crops namely row, strip, relay and mixed intercropping. Now a days, Push-pull technology, a combined approach of cereallegume intercropping and trap cropping has gained popularity in the developing world particularly in some countries of Africa. Some factors i.e., maturity of component crops, time of planting and density and combination of component crops are given utmost importance for making the cereal- legume intercropping system successful. Cereal-legume intercropping is useful in terms of enhanced productivity, reduction of damage due to pests and diseases, control of weeds, conservation of environment, soil and biodiversity and improvement of forage quality. This system has several disadvantages as well, for example, competition for resources between component crops, additional costs, extra labor and difficulties in practical management and mechanization. Despite intercropping has a thousands of years old history, it is still not well-understood from an agronomic viewpoint and advanced research in this field are poor compared to works in monoculture. In this literature study, important works on cereal-legume intercropping system carried out by different researchers have been discussed and the findings in this study would be helpful to the researchers involved in this field.
Keywords: Intercropping; Cereal; Legume; Nitrogen; Yield; Biodiversity
