A.

Crop Ecology
Introduction
Concept of crop ecology
The word Ecology was derived from the Greek words ‘’Oikos’ (house or place where one lives) and ‘Logos’ (study of)
and summarized as the Study of the “House” in which we live.

Ecology: The word ‘Ecology’ was first used by a German Biologist, Ernest Haeckel in 1869. Haeckel
regarded the ecology of an organism as “the knowledge of the sum of the relationships of organisms
with outer world, i.e. the living and nonliving conditions of their surroundings.”

Paraphrasing Haeckel’s statement, ecology is defined as a scientific study of the interactions between
organisms and their environment.

Krebs (1972) also defined Ecology as scientific study of the interactions that determine distribution and
abundance of organisms.

Ecology involves collecting information about organisms and their environment, looking for patterns,
and seeking to explain these patterns. As a science, Ecology attempts to explain:

1. 1 .Why particular plants and animals found living together in one area and not in others, that is,
distribution of living organisms
2. Why are there so many organisms of one sort and few of another in a given area, that is,
abundance of organisms
3. What changes one might expect from the interactions among organisms in a particular area, that
is, effects of interactions or relationships
4. How the overall interactions in an environment create a working system and so on.
Krebs’s definition has the merit of pinpointing the ultimate subject matter of ecology; the distribution and
abundance of organisms, i.e., where organisms occur, how many there are and what they do.

Although, Krebs’s definition does not use the word ‘environment,. Ecology is a subject that basically
deals with the different aspects of organisms in relation to their environment.

Environment
The environment refers to everything in the surroundings of organisms and the organisms themselves. It
is a combination of many factors that interact with one another. As a result, it is difficult to isolate anyone
part of the environment and change it without affecting other parts of the environment. The environment
of an organism on the other hand, consists of all those factors and phenomena outside the organism that
influence it, whether those factors are physical and chemical (abiotic) or other organisms (biotic).
However, the ‘interactions’ in Krebs’s definition are, of course, interactions with these very factors.

Figure 1, summarizes the complex interactions between the abiotic and biotic environments of an
organism.

Figure 1. The environment of an organism

There are three levels of organismal organizations. Ecology deals with these three levels

 The individual organism

 The population (consisting of individuals of the same species)
 The community (consisting of a greater or lesser number of populations)
individual ecology
Although the interest of ecologists is the complex interactions between species, they also study
individual organisms because they are the products of natural selection. Individuals are the
fundamental units of populations, communities, ecosystems and biomes. Major ecological community

Term.
E Autecology- is name given to ecological studies that concentrate on one species. Autos is the
Greek word which mean ‘self’. Autecology is also known as the ecology of individuals.

At the level of individual organism, ecology deals with

  How individuals are affected and how they affect their biotic and abiotic environment in
addition to investigation of the essentials of

 How they obtain their energy and nutrients from ecological perspective.

Population ecology
A population is made up of a group of individuals that belong to the same species. At the level of
population, ecology deals with the

 presence or absence of individuals of particular species,

 their abundance, trends and fluctuations in their number.

The particular concern of ecology, however, is with those characteristics that most affect

 distribution and abundance of population;

 the process of birth,

 death and migration.

Community ecology
Term
Synecology- is ecological study that concentrates on community. A community is made up of group of
populations that are found in given area. So, Community ecology deals with -
 composition or structure of community
 pathways followed by energy,
 nutrients and other 26 chemicals as they pass through them.
We can pursue an understanding of these patterns and processes from a consideration of the
component populations; but we can also look directly at properties of the communities themselves
like species diversity, the rate of biomass production and so on.

Ecologists are concerned not only with communities, populations and organisms in nature, but also with
man-made or man influenced environments (orchards, wheat fields, grain store, nature reserves and so
on) and with the consequences of mans influence on nature.
Ecologists also often become interested in laboratory systems & mathematical models. These have played
a crucial role in the development of ecology.

Ecology is a central discipline in biology, and therefore not surprisingly, it overlaps with many other
disciplines, especially genetics, evolution, behavior and physiology.

1.2 The Nature of Ecological Study

The only way to find out how any organism survives, reproduces and interacts with other organisms is to
study it. This makes ecology a practical science. There are three main approaches to ecological study.

1. Observation

The simplest method is to observe and record the organisms in their natural environment. This approach
is sometimes described as observation ‘in the field’ or fieldwork.

2. Experimenting under natural condition

A second type of study is to carry out experiments in the field to find out how the organism reacts to
certain changes in its surroundings.

3. Experiment under controlled environment

A third approach involves bringing organisms into a controlled environment for example, in a laboratory,
cage or greenhouse. This method is very useful as it is often easier to record information under controlled
conditions. However, it must be remembered that the organisms may react to situations differently as
they have been removed from their natural environment.

16. Ecological farming.

As ecosystem is the complex system of interactions between living things such as plants, bugs, animals
and bacteria as well as non living things like soil, water, rocks, climate and the sun. These living and
non-living things greatly depend on each other and it is the presence and abundance of their interactions
which provides integrity to the entire ecosystem. Thus, all parts are important! If just one part of the
system is removed or becomes damaged, other parts can be greatly affected. The integrity of the
ecosystem can then weaken which often leads to various social, economic, environmental disasters.
Within the ecosystem, there are many different living species existing together. These include insects,
bacteria, soil organisms, birds, rodents, and large mammals like deer. The presence of various living
things existing together in an ecosystem is called biodiversity. With greater diversity, the ecosystem is
more stable. On the farmland, if there many kinds of crops within one area, the easier it is for them to
resist to insects and diseases.

The term “ecological farming” is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances
the ecosystem. Ecological farming is a holistic approach for managing your farm that will optimize the
productive and productivity of the interdependent soil life, plants, animals and people. It emphasizes
designing productive systems guided by ecological principles instead of trying only to increase
production .
The use of organic fertilizers, generally cheap and locally available, makes ecological farming more
secure and less vulnerable to external inputs’ accessibility and price fluctuation. The nitrogen-fixing
legumes used as green manures can provide enough biologically fixed nitrogen to replace the entire
amount of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer currently in use, without losses in food production. Monoculture in
large fields is the arrangement most likely to encourage spread of pests and diseases. However, arranging
even a small number of varieties in small rather than large blocks can have a large effect in delaying
epidemic development (S. Phillips, personal communication). Reducing plot size to that of a single plant
will maximize such effects. Growing legumes and/or adding compost, animal dung or green manures are
some smart ways to increase organic matter and fertility of the soil.
A crop mixture makes better overall use of available resources. Negative influences (e. g., competition
for light, water, or nutrients) between the component members of a successful multiple cropping systems
would be reduced considerably. To maximize the advantages of such a system, it is important to
maximize the degree to which one component complements another. With a greater range of
requirements between different elements of the mixture, theoretically the greatest advantages would be
achieved.
Intercropping systems have been shown to extract more nutrients from the soil than do single crop
plantings per unit area of land. In a very complete study with maize and pigeon peas, various parameters
of crop response were measured. The highest single crop yields of grain were obtained in monoculture,
but by adding yields of two crops planted mixed or in intercropped rows, Relative Yield Totals (RYT)
were higher. Total dry matter production was higher in the mixtures as well. The most interesting aspect
is the uptake of nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg). The total uptake is based on the sum of the two crops
together, and in all cases the total nutrient content of the dry matter production was higher for the
mixtures, demonstrating the greater extractive capacity of the multiple cropping systems. The greater
uptake of nutrients in crop mixtures could deplete the soil more rapidly. But an aspect of multiple
cropping that needs to be considered is what proportion of this nutrient content is removed from the
system with the harvest, as compared to the part reincorporated back into the system.
Various strategies to restore agricultural diversity in time and space include crop rotations, cover crops,
intercropping, crop/livestock mixtures, and so on, which exhibit the following ecological features:
1. Crop Rotations. Temporal diversity incorporated into cropping systems, providing crop nutrients and
breaking the life cycles of several insect pests, diseases, and weed life cycles.
2. Poly-cultures. Complex cropping systems in which two or more crop species are planted within
sufficient spatial proximity to result in competition or complementation, thus enhancing yields.
3. Agro-forestry Systems. An agricultural system where trees are grown together with annual crops
and/or animals, resulting in enhanced complementary relations between components increasing multiple
use of the agro-ecosystem.
4. Cover Crops the use of pure or mixed stands of legume or other annual plant species under fruit trees
for the purpose of improving soil fertility, enhancing biological control of pests, and modifying the
orchard microclimate.
5. Animal integration in agro-ecosystems aids in achieving high biomass output and optimal recycling.
All of the above diversified forms of agro-ecosystems share in common the following features .
a. Maintain vegetative cover as an effective soil and water conserving measure, met through the use of
no-till practices, mulch farming, and use of cover crops and other appropriate methods.
b. Provide a regular supply of organic matter through the addition of organic matter (manure, compost,
and promotion of soil biotic activity).
16.1. Organic agriculture
Organic agriculture has expanded rapidly over the last thirty years. The area certified as organic or in
conversion has increased greatly (though much of the converted area is permanent pasture) and sales
have exploded (though an uncomfortably large proportion is from imported produce). Much of this
change has been achieved through relatively simple modifications of currently conventional agriculture
systems that help to reduce negative ecological impacts, although gross production per hectare over a
whole rotation is significantly less. Organic agriculture does offer other positive ecological gains
(biodiversity, energy use, decentralization, etc.) relative to conventional, but there is much still to be
learnt from the positive ecological impacts and sustainability of natural (unmanaged) ecosystems.
Organic farming methods can help reverse the trend of declining soil fertility that many farmers in
developing countries are facing. Problems like soil erosion, acidification and organic matter depletion can
benefit from agro-ecological practices that nurture soil fertility and biodiversity.

Indeed, application of advances in ecological sciences, both within the cropped area and by integrating
agriculture with its surrounding ecosystems, is essential. Organic agriculture must become more
ecologically oriented, not only as a way of farming, but to blend more with other ecosystems while
simultaneously influencing outputs (marketing, food, energy, recycling). A fundamental starting-point in
this direction is in the development of ecological cropping systems. Current organic practice in terms of
cropping systems has settled into a limited range of relatively short rotations based on monoculture
cropping. For example, a recent survey (A. Lamy, S. Tehard, personal communication) recorded that the
commonest cropping system is a monoculture rotation:
Winter cereals – pulses – spring cereals – two year ley.

16.2. The Basic Principles of Cropping Systems

1. Choose crops that complement each other. This involves choosing complementary crops and systems
that share resources without causing nutrient deficiencies for neighboring or subsequent crops. Plant
nitrogen demand crops following N-fixing legume crops. Crops that respond to good soil structure should
likewise follow soil-restoring crops. Crops with low fertility (i.e. peas, and lentils) should be used at the
end of a crop rotation when the soil fertility levels re lowest.
2. Choose crops and a cropping rotation which utilize available resources efficiently. Examine the factors
that limit crop productivity in your area (i.e. water, solar radiation, growing season, farm labor,
equipment, and animal draft power) and design a rotation that emphasizes crops which best utilize
available resources, yet minimize production risks (i.e. if summer heat stress is a problem include heat
tolerant crops), strategies include choosing plants with different nutrient uptake rates, different heights
for even distributions of sunlight, different rooting patterns, varying plant structure, or different harvest
times. For example, spring wheat and maize can be grown in strips versus solid plantings.
3. Choose crops and a cropping system that maintain and enhance soil fertility. This includes
maintenance of nutrients such as nitrogen and carbon (organic matter). For example: Crop rotation-with
approximately 30-50 % N-fixing crops, like legumes, generally do not deplete the farming system of
nitrogen.
Choose crops which produce large amounts of organic matter in both above and below ground, For
example, perennial forages and millet. The crop rotation should include some deep rooted crops and
crops that have large roots, incorporate residues back into the soil.
4. Choose crops which have a diversity of growth cycles. An ideal crop rotation would consist of early
spring seeded, summer seeded, fall planted, perennial hay and pasture crops. This however may not be
possible if climatic conditions are unfavorable for crops like winter wheat, or if it is difficult to establish
perennial forages because of moisture limitations.
5. Choose a diverse species of crops. The more diverse the rotation, and the longer the period before the
soil is reseeded with the same crop, the more likely weed, pest and disease problems will be avoided.
Trying to grow too many crops however may cause management problems; there for no more than 6-7
annual crops should be planted. For example: Typically it is a good idea to rotate between grass and
broadleaf crops for disease prevention. Changing the field each year between grass family plants and
broadleaf plants helps produce the carry-over of pathogenic disease organisms from year to year. For
some disease sensitive crops, it is best not to grow the same crop on the same field for 3 years after last
the planting.
6. Keep the soil covered. Efforts should be made to grow sequences of crops that maximize solar
radiation capture and minimize risks of soil erosion. For example, winter cereals can be seeded following
peas.
7. Strategically plan and modify your cropping system as needed. The optimal crop rotation for your farm
will evolve only through effective planning and many years of experimentation and observation.
Diversified cropping systems will need more management, and possibly specialized equipment.
8. Monitor your progress! Make a plan and keep records.
16.3. Types of Cropping Systems
Cropping systems are designed to mimic nature and bring diversity into our farming systems. Cropping
systems include:
1. Crop rotation: crops are changed in the field from year to year according to a planned sequence rather
than the same crop being grown in the same field. The crop rotation can include both annual and
perennial crops which are seeded for several years.
2. Multiple cropping: two or more crops grown in the same field within a given year. Annual and
perennial plants can be organized in fields together. Another example might be planting rows of fruit
trees with cereal grains or vegetable between and windbreaks planted around the field perimeter.
3. Mixed cropping: Two or more crops are mixed together in the same field at the same time without a
definite row arrangement. Complimentary- crops includes oats and peas or mixtures of forages and
legumes.
4. Strip intercropping: Two or more crops are planted in the same field in alternate rows. The two crops
generally have their main production period at different times of the year. This system more evenly uses
water throughout the growing season, and ensures some level of productivity during the dry season by the
more drought tolerant crops. For example, wheat or peas can be spring sown in one-meter strips with the
adjacent fallow one- meter strip area. Later this area can be planted with two rows of maize.
16.4. The Benefits of Cropping Systems
1. Maintain and enhance soil fertility. Some crops are soil exhausting while others help restore soil
fertility. However, a diversity of crops will maintain soil fertility and keep production levels high.
2. Enhanced crop growth. Crops may provide mutual benefits to each other. For example, reducing
lodging, improving winter survival, or even acting as windbreaks to improve growth.
3. Minimize spread of disease. The more diverse the species of plants and the long the period before the
soil is reseeded with the same crop, the more likely disease problems will be avoided.
4. Control weeds. Crops planted at different times of the year have different weed species associated with
them. Rotating crops helps prevent build up of any one serious weed species. The more different growth
cycles the crops have in your rotation, the fewer weeds will be able to adapt to the field conditions.
5. Inhibit pest and disease growth. Changing crops each year to unrelated species can dramatically reduce
the population of pests and diseases. Crop rotation frequently eliminates their food source and changes
the habitat available to them.
6. Increase soil cover. Growing a diversity of crops helps keep field sizes smaller, which increases soil
cover, improves solar radiation capture and reduce erosion.
7. Use resources more efficiently. Having a diverse group of crops helps to more efficiently use the
available resources. Natural resources, such as nutrients, sunlight and water in the soil, are evenly shared
by plants over the growing period, maximizing the risk for nutrient deficiencies and drought.
8. Reduce risk for crop failure. Growing a diversity of crops helps prevent total crop failures, as climate
weather in one part of the season may not affect all crops equally. It also reduces food security concerns,
as well as the amount of money required to finance production.
9. Improved food and financial security. Choosing an appropriate and diverse number of crops will lead
to a more regular food production throughout the year. With a lower risk for crop failure, there is a
greater reliability on food production and income generation.
16.5. Pest Protection without Chemical Pesticides
Ecological farming can achieve pest protection in crop fields without relying on pesticides, by making
croplands more resilient to pests. Farmers can find long-term solutions to pest problems by designing
diverse crop fields and using low-input technologies locally available. Ecological pest protection is based
on enhancing the “immunity” of the agro-ecosystem and promoting healthy soils and healthy plants
(Altieri et al., 2005). By designing agro-ecosystems that on the one side work against the pests’
performance and on the other are less vulnerable to pest invasion, farmers can substantially reduce pest
numbers
In the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, a pesticide-free farming revolution has taken place in the last few
years. A non-pesticide approach to farming, based on locally available resources and traditional practices
supplemented with modern science, has brought ecological and economic benefits to the farmers. Under
such practices, damages to a crop can be reduced by 10-15 per cent without using chemical pesticides so
that the cost of plant protection is low
In Africa, scientists at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) developed the
push-pull system to fight maize stem borers without use of chemicals. Grasses planted on the borders of
maize fields (Napier grass and Sudan grass) attract insect pests away from maize – the pull, and two
plants intercropped with maize (molasses grass and the legume silver leaf) repel the insect pests from the
crop – the push
The push-pull system has been tested by over 4000 farmers in Kenya and about 500 farmers in Uganda
and Tanzania, with impressive positive outcomes. Farms using push-pull systems showed between 40
and 90 percent less attack of stem borers and, on average, 50 percent higher yields of maize than mono-
crop farms. Economically, across 4 districts in Kenya over 7 years, the average economic return per
hectare was 74 percent higher for push-pull farmers than for mono-crop farmers.
16.6. Building Diversity in Practice
16.6.1. Crop Diversity

Crop diversity can be considered at the level of the gene (e.g. lines or genotypes of a particular variety
with different resistance genes), variety (within each species, different varieties cover a range of
characteristics), or species.
16.6.2. Spatial Arrangement

This refers to the ways in which the different forms of crop diversity can be arranged in space. These are
listed in order of decreasing variety/species interaction:
Mixed – (lines, varieties or species) planted in an ordered arrangement (Weiner et al. 2001) or at random.
Row – alternating forms of diversity in row planting. Strip – alternating forms of diversity in strip
planting.
16.6.3. Temporal Arrangement
This refers to the ways in which the different forms of crop diversity can be arranged in time. The
principal forms are rotation, which ensures diversity between seasons and sequential, involving diversity
within a season. Rotation may be regarded as ‘unnatural’ but is particularly important for restriction of
weeds, soil-borne pathogens and animal parasites. Multiple cropping systems use management practices
where the total crop production from a single piece of land is achieved by growing single crops in close
sequence, growing several crops simultaneously, or combining single and mixed crops in some sequence.
The most important aspect of multiple cropping is the intensification of crop production into additional
dimensions. Multiple cropping includes the dimensions of time and space; for example, when two crops
share the same space at the same time (Garrett and Mundt, 1999).
Rotation systems have been used for millennia to maintain soil fertility and productivity and to suppress
pests, and can increase yields even in situations where substantial amounts of fertilizers and pesticides are
applied. Rotation systems also foster spatial diversity, since different crops within the rotation sequence
are typically grown in different fields on a farm in the same year (Adam S. Davis, Jason D. Hill, Craig A.
Chase, Ann M. Johann, Matt Liebman.203-2011).
16.7. General Resource Use
Multiple cropping is not a new form of agricultural technology, but instead is an ancient means of
intensive farming. Multiple cropping has been practiced in many parts of the world as a way to maximize
land productivity in a specific area in a growing season. Generally, the practice of planting two or more
crops on the same field is more common in tropical regions where more rainfall, higher temperatures, and
longer growing seasons are more favorable for continual crop production. As population has increased,
increasing the need for agricultural production, the use of multi-cropping systems is more prevalent.
Multiple cropping systems use management practices where the total crop production from a single piece
of land is achieved by growing single crops in close sequence, growing several crops simultaneously, or
combining single and mixed crops in some sequence. The most important aspect of multiple cropping is
the intensification of crop production into additional dimensions. Multiple cropping includes the
dimensions of time and space.
The most commonly accepted reason explaining why it is possible to obtain better yields with crop
mixture is that the component crops differ in their growth requirements. Such combinations of
components can be said to be “complementary”.
16.8. Specific Resource Use, Conservation, and Management
An intensified land-use system of agriculture will certainly put greater pressures on the available natural
resources of our crop and rangelands. Considerable discussion has focused on the harmful or beneficial
aspects of this intensification, and a review of some of the more important aspects can aid greatly in
understanding this problem:

1. Microclimate and Light: In any agro-ecosystem, a very important aspect of productivity is related to
the amount of light converted directly to carbohydrate, hence to vegetative material, through
photosynthesis. Each cropping system has a photosynthetic potential, based on its capacity of conversion.

2. Soil-Plant Relations in Multiple Cropping Systems: Any time that we try to combine two or more
crops simultaneously in one area, there exists the possibility for complex interactions the plants and their
soil environment.

3. Water Use in Multiple Cropping Systems: Any discussion of water use should consider rooting
patterns. In multiple cropping systems, especially with several crops with differently arrayed root
systems, a greater volume of the soil typically is occupied and thus water use efficiency is higher.
4. Pest, Disease, and Weed Relations: As discussed, possibilities exist for multiple cropping systems to
be both advantageous and disadvantageous in relation to problems of pests, diseases, and weeds. The
problem has to do with the great complexity of environmental factors and their dynamic interactions with
in the cropping systems.
5. Mutualisms and Crop Coexistence: In natural ecosystems, a great number of interactions between
different species are mutually beneficial for those organisms involved, leading us to believe that there is a
strong selective pressure operating to select combinations that coexist rather than compete.
6. Use of Space and Time: One of the most important aspects of the management of multiple cropping
systems is the facility they offer for the intensification of production through manipulation of space and
time. Resource use in space is then combined with its use in time, trying to achieve constant use of the
resources available.
Crop production systems in West Africa and Nigeria in particular, involve several different cropping
patterns. Among these systems is intercropping which involves growing two or more crops
simultaneously on the same field and the ways in which the crops are managed. Apart from ensuring
greater yield stability, intercropping has been found to be beneficial in reducing damage caused by pests
and diseases.
A farming system could be defined as a population of individual and homogeneous farm systems that
have broadly similar resource bases, enterprise patterns, household, livelihoods and constraints, and for
which similar development strategies and interventions would be appropriate. However, cropping system
is a subset of farming system in which the available resources of the farmer is evaluated in the production
of crops within a unit area of land.
The participation of farmers in this process can be crucial. Many farmers in developing countries are
struggling to produce in poor environmental conditions with few tools for coping with drought, pests, and
disease. Agricultural research is needed to help these farmers reduce their risk, improve their
productivity, and protect their natural resources.
16.9. Cover-Crops
A cover crop is a crop that is not harvested but is grown to benefit the soil and/or other crops in a number
of ways. Cover crop benefits include: reduced soil erosion, improved soil quality, reduced weed pressure,
reduced insect, nematode and other pest problems.
Cover crops are grown during or between primary cropping seasons. They are versatile and easily
adapted to conventional, low-input and organic field crop ecosystems. There are many cover crop
species. Legume-cover crops fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form plants and microorganisms can use.
Non-legume species recycle existing soil nitrogen and can reduce the risk of excess nitrogen leaching
into groundwater.
16.9.1. Cover Crops and Crop Rotation
Because every aspect of farm management is linked to other aspects, it is important to consider the entire
system when planning a field crop scheme. Rotating crops is an important practice that has repeatedly
proven to be an excellent pest management tool. Rotation also provides an opportunity for seeding cover
crops. The maize-maize-soybean-wheat rotation many Michigan farmers use offers several possibilities
for using cover crops. Growers can incorporate cover crops into their cropping systems by over-seeding.
17. Issues Related to Environmental Impacts on Agro-ecosystem and Implication and
Sustainability

Abiotic stress is the primary cause of crop loss worldwide, reducing average yields for most major crop
plants by more than 50%… Drought and salinity are becoming particularly widespread in many regions,
and may cause serious salinization of more than 50% of all arable lands by the year 2050.” (Wang et al.
2003). Environmental stresses such as erratic and insufficient rainfall, extreme temperatures, salinity,
alkalinity, aluminium toxicity, acidity, stoniness and others limit yield and productivity of many
cultivated crop plants. Not only are such problems serious today, it seems they are inevitably
worsening. These practices we now know to be unsustainable in the longer term.
Plant growth and distribution are limited by the environment. If anyone environmental factor is less than
ideal it will become a limiting factor in plant growth. Limiting factors are also responsible for the
geography of plant distribution. For example, only plants adapted to limited amounts of water can live in
deserts. Most plant problems are caused by environmental stress, either directly or indirectly. Therefore,
it is important to understand the environmental aspects that affect plant growth. These factors are abiotic
components (light, temperature, water (humidity), and nutrition) and biotic components.

Agroecosystems are comprised of the non-living (abiotic) and living (biotic) components in a human-
managed, agricultural system. Agroecosystems provide the arena in which crop evolution occurs,
presenting stresses, but also opportunities, to which crops must adapt in order to thrive. Abiotic
components of agroecosystems include temperature, soil, water, relative humidity, light and wind.

Biotic factors include parasitic and herbivorous pests, competition from other plants, and favourable
(symbiotic) relationships with other organisms. The farmers who manage these factors in terms of
irrigation, nutrient input, pest control, land preparation, mixed/relay cropping and other practices are also
abiotic component of agroecosystems. These factors vary over time, with seasonal, annual and stochastic
changes, and in space, from the micro-environmental to the ecoregional scale. As a result, local landraces
adapt to the particular conditions of their immediate ecogeographic setting. These adaptations to local
environmental stresses are likely to be reflected in the genetic composition of landraces over time.

The physical environment is the ultimate determinant of where organisms can live, the resources that are
available to them, and the rate at which their population can grow. The physical environment includes
climate which consists of long term trends in temperature and precipitation. The physical environment
also includes radiation from the sun, which ultimately drives the climate system as well as biological
energy production. The chemical environment, which includes salinity, acidity (pH), and concentration of
gases in the atmosphere and dissolved in water, is another aspect of the physical environment. Soil is an
important component of the physical environment because it is a medium in which microorganisms,
plants and animals live. Soil also influences the availability of critical resources, particularly water and
nutrients. The variations in the abiotic components of an environment can act as stress factors on plants.
In a genetically diverse population, some individuals will be better adapted to these stress factors and
thrive, while others may not survive. In this way, environmental influences exert selective pressures on
crop populations.

Understanding the potential for variation in environmental influences through time and space is crucial to
examining their impacts on crop genetic diversity. As mentioned above, both biotic and abiotic factors
will vary in their presence and severity across fields, communities and regions, and the presence and
degree of adaptation in local landrace populations is likely to mirror this spatial variation. Meanwhile, the
adaptations developed by populations exposed to constant environmental pressures will be very different
from the adaptations engendered by radical environmental stresses. Such radical environmental stresses
are known as stochastic events. These are periods of abiotic or biotic stress that represent a significant
departure from regular environmental conditions, such as the droughts or rains caused by an El Niño
event or severe blights or plagues. Stochastic events typically present severe stress to crop plants and can
significantly reduce the size of a crop population. The landraces that survive a stochastic event are likely
to be well-adapted to the particular stress, and future generations may possess that adaptation. Through
time, stochastic events and other types of environmental influences are an important factor in the
evolution of crop populations. In diverse crop populations, the impacts of environmental stress factors
will gradually favour landraces that thrive in adverse conditions.

Agroecosystems contain a multitude of environmental and biological factors affecting plant survival and
productivity, and it would be impossible to measure all of them. Therefore, it is important to have some
criteria to reduce the number of variables for analysis to those that are key in influencing plant survival in
a given agroecosystem.

17.1. Abiotic influences on agro-ecosystem

The variations in the abiotic components of an environment can act as stress factors on plants. In a
genetically diverse population, some individuals will be better adapted to these stress factors and thrive,
while others may not survive. In this way, environmental influences exert selective pressures on crop
populations. Habitats located at higher altitudes are commonly associated with particular abiotic factors,
including low carbon dioxide availability and high variation in precipitation, light, soils and temperature.
Likewise, other ecogeographic niches are likely to contain ‘portfolios’ of abiotic factors. For instance,
semi-desert regions are associated with shallow sandy soils, low rainfall and temperature extremes. Just
as these abiotic factors can be clustered in various ecogeographic regions, so corresponding adaptations
may appear in portfolios of genetic diversity.

17.1. Climatic Factors

17.1.1 Solar Radiation

It provides energy that drives almost all ecosystems. However, only plants and other photosynthetic
organisms use it directly. It is also an important factor to the development and behavior of plants and
animals i.e. sensitive to photoperiods (periods of light), competition for sunlight among plants in a forest
or aquatic plants in fresh and saltwater environments. Length of photoperiods (daylight vs. night time) is
a more reliable indicator than temperature for cueing seasonal events such as flowering, migration, etc.

Sunlight is a major part of abiotic conditions in an ecosystem. The sun is the primary source of energy on
our planet. It lights the surface, provides higher energy waves, affects the earth's temperature and
circulates the earth's atmosphere. It is the energy that is used by green plants (which contain chlorophyll)
during the process of photosynthesis; a process during which plants manufacture organic substances by
combining inorganic substances. Visible light is of the greatest importance to plants because it is
necessary for photosynthesis. Factors such as quality of light, intensity of light and the length of the light
period (day length) play an important part in an ecosystem.

Plants absorb blue and red light during photosynthesis. In terrestrial ecosystems the quality of light does
not change much. In aquatic ecosystems, the quality of light can be a limiting factor. Both blue and red
light are absorbed and as a result do not penetrate deeply into the water. To compensate for this, some
algae have additional pigments which are able to absorb other colors as well. The intensity of the light
that reaches the earth varies according to the latitude and season of the year.
Certain plants flower only during certain times of the year. One of the reasons for this is that these plants
are able to "measure" the length of the night (dark periods). However, it was thought that it is the day
length (light periods) to which plants reacted and this phenomenon was termed photoperiodism.
Photoperiodism can be defined as the relative lengths of daylight and darkness that affect the physiology
and behaviour of an organism. Short-day Plants flower only if they experience nights which are longer
than a certain critical length.

Those plants flower if they experience nights shorter than a certain critical length is called long
day plants. Spinach, wheat, barley, clover and radish are examples of long plants. The flowering of day-
neutral plants is not influenced by night length. The tomato (Lycopersicon esculeutum) and the maize
plant (Zea mays) are examples of day-neutral plants.

Phototropism is the directional growth of plants in response to light where the direction of the stimulus
determines the direction of movement; stems demonstrate positive phototropism i.e. they came towards
the light when they grow. Phototaxis is the movement of the whole organism in response to a unilateral
light source, where the stimulus determines the direction of movement. Photokinesis is variation in
intensity of locomotory activity of animals which is dependent on the intensity of light stimulation, and
not the direction. Photonasty is the movement of parts of a plant in response to a light source, but the
direction of the stimulus does not determine the direction of the movement of the plant.

Light requirements of plants differ and as a result distinct layers, or stratification, can be observed in an
ecosystem. Plants which grow well in bright sunlight are called heliophytes (Greek helios, sun) and
plants which grow well in shady conditions are known as sciophytes (Greek skia, shade ).

17.1.1.1. Effects of Excess Irradiance

Species that are adapted to shade often have a restricted capacity to acclimate to a high irradiance.
Unacclimated plants have a low capacity to use the products of the light reactions for carbon fixation, and
tend to be damaged by high irradiance levels, because the energy absorbed by the photosystems exceeds
the energy that can be used by carbon-fixation reactions. The excess energy can give rise to the
production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (i.e., toxic, reactive oxygen-containing molecules that
rapidly lose an electron) and radicals (molecules with unpaired electrons) that break down membranes
and chlorophyll (photodamage). Acclimated plants have protective mechanisms that avoid this
photodamage. For example, the energy absorbed by the light-harvesting complex may be lost as heat
through reactions associated with the xanthophylls cycle. When the cycle converts violaxanthin to
zeaxanthin or antheraxanthin, nonradiative mechanisms dissipate energy by a mechanism that is not yet
fully known. This mechanism is induced by acidification of the thylakoid lumen that results from the
formation of a proton-motive force. The strong acidification of the lumen induces an enzymatic
conversion of the carotenoid violaxanthin into zeaxanthin. When both zeaxanthin is present and the
thylakoid lumen is acidic, excess light energy is lost as heat by a mechanism not yet fully known.

17.1.1.2. Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation

Many compounds in plant cells absorb photons in the ultraviolet region (Fig. 1); the most destructive
actions of UV include effects on nucleic acids. DNA is by far the most sensitive nucleic acid. Upon
absorption of UVradiation, polymers of pyrimidine bases, termed cyclobutane-pyrimidine dimers, are
formed which leads to loss of biological activity. Although RNA and proteins also absorb UV radiation,
much higher doses are required for inactivation to occur, possibly due to their higher concentration in the
cell compared with DNA. Algae and bacteria are considerably more sensitive to UV-B radiation than are
leaves of higher plants, due to less shielding of their DNA. Higher plants that are sensitive to solar UV
show a reduction in photosynthetic capacity, leaf expansion, and height; they tend to have thicker leaves,
which are often curled, and increased axillary branching.
Although part of the reduced leaf expansion may be the result of reduced photosynthesis, it also involves
direct effects on cell division, with both effects leading to reductions in plant growth and productivity.
There may be additional effects on plant development, e.g., on leaf epidermal cell size and leaf
elongation in Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair-grass) (Ruhland & Day 2000).

17.1.2. Temperature influence on plants

Temperature influences photosynthesis, water and nutrient absorption, transpiration, respiration, and
enzyme activity. These factors govern germination, flowering, pollen viability, fruit set, rates of
maturation and senescence, yield, quality, harvest duration, and shelf life. Different plants have different
temperature requirements. However, for most crop species, optimum temperatures usually range around
25ºC. Depending on the situation and the specific crop, ambient temperatures higher or lower than the
effective growth range will reduce growth and delay development, and subsequently decrease yield and
quality. The extremes may be considered killing frosts at about 0ºC and death by heat and desiccation at
about 40ºC.
Temperature is an indication of the amount of heat energy in a system. The higher the heat content, the
higher the temperature. On worldwide bases, temperature is perhaps the dominating factor affecting plant
and animals distribution. The artctic, the temprate zone, and the tropics are largely delimited by
temperature differences. The environmental temperatures experienced by most organisms results directly
or indirectly from solar radiation reaching any point on earth at any time and varying with the time of
year, slopes, cloud cover, time of day, and other factors.

Temperature is one of the most critical factors of the environment and exerts profound influence on all
physiological activities by controlling the rate of chemical reaction. Every physiological function has
temperature limit above and below which it ceases and an optimum temperature at which reactions
proceed at a maximum rates. As the temperature deviates from this optimum, the rate of reaction
decreased, stopping completely beyond a critical limit. The temperature at which organism can exist is
referred to as the physiological range. It varies in different organisms depending on local adaptation. A
temperature of 52 0C is about as high as any animal and protozoa can still grow and multiply. The
thermal limit for the survival of metabolically active vascular plants ranges from +60 0C to -60 0C in
different species. Some blue green algae and other prokaryotic organisms are known to exist from
slightly below 0 0C to about 70 0C.

Human activity is warming earth through phenomenon known as the green house effect. Scientist are
concerned that patterns of temperature may be altered by global warming much too rapidly for human
societies and especially for agricultural systems to adjust. Increases the concentrations of green house
gases are almost certainly going to raise global average temperature substantially with the alternate
consequences. Current projections estimate an increase in global average temperature of 3-5 0C by the
year 2050. Associated with global warming will be regional and local changes in average temperature ,
change in distribution of hot and cold periods, and change in a number of other chemical and physical
variables including precipitation, evaporation rate, sea level and soil and water chemistry. Because of
global warming, some regions will see dramatic increase in rainfall and other will lose their present
vegetation because of drought. R.E Smith has reported that the role of temperature and its relationship
with moisture in the distribution and abundance of species is the subject of intensive research relating to
global climate change.

17.1.2.1. High temperature stress.

In green house effect, the carbon dioxide together with methane and nitrous oxide allows sun rays (short
wavelengths) to enter the atmosphere and reach the surface of the earth but prohibits the heat radiation
from the earth (long wavelengths) to escape, thus leading to an increase in global temperature which will
have deleterious consequences within, a century. The planet has already been warmed by 0.8 to 2.5°C
and going to get hotter by 3 to 5°C within the next century. It is postulated that the excessive use of
chemicals, industrialization and burning of fossil fuels increase the concentration of CO2, methane (CH4),
chloroflurocarbons (CFCs), nitrogen oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3) due to which less and less heat can
escape through the atmosphere. This causes the temperature of the earth to rise. The global warming has
become a major scientific and political issue during the last decade. One of the consequences of global
warming caused by the green house effect would be to melt glaciers and ice sheets causing the oceans to
expand. Various gases affect the atmospheric temperature and life on planet in different ways.

Elevated temperatures typically accompany drought conditions and therefore considered as important
environmental stress. Plant typically dies when exposed to temperature above 45°C. The high
temperature conditions lead to denaturation of enzymes and unfolding of nucleic acids in most
organisms. A periodic brief exposure to sub lethal heat stresses often induces tolerance to otherwise lethal
temperatures, a phenomenon referred to as induced thermo tolerance.

The increase in temperatures resulting from higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere may inhibit
or promote crop growth. Naturally, such climatic changes will directly affect agricultural production. It is
anticipated that for moderate global average temperature increases (1–3°C) there will be an overall
increase in global food production. Additional temperature increases, however, would result in an overall
decrease in food (IPCC, 2007). In low-latitude regions such as seasonally dry tropical areas, even
moderate temperature increases (1–2°C) are likely to negatively affect major cereal crops, increasing the
risk of famine. By the mid-21st century, crop yields in East and Southeast Asia may increase by up to
20%, while those in central and South Asia may decrease by up to 30% if the direct positive
physiological effects of CO2 are taken into account

17.1.2.2. Low temperature stress

The plants are also found to affect adversely if temperature goes down below a certain limit. It can be of
two types i.e. chilling injury and freezing injury. When plants growing at relatively warmer temperatures
(25-35°C) are cooled to 10-15°C temperature, chilling injury occurs. These chilling temperatures are too
low for normal growth but not enough for ice formation. The injury slows down the growth,
discolouration or lesions appear on leaves, and the foliage looks soggy, if soaked in water for a long time.
If roots are chilled, the plants may wilt. The chilling sensitive physiological functions include inhibition
of photosynthesis, reduced carbohydrate translocation, lower transpiration rates, inhibition of protein
synthesis and increased degradation of existing proteins. Chilling effects can be avoided if tissues are
exposed to high temperature for brief intervals between chilling periods, provided that initial chilling was
not too prolonged. On the other hand, freezing injury occurs at temperatures below the freezing point of
water (below O°C). In this range of temperature, metabolism of cells is reduced to a minimum, thus, even
the most important physiological functions cease.

2.1.3. Ozone Imbalance

Ozone is a pale blue gas, mostly present in ozone layer or ozonosphere (10 to 50 Km above the earth
surface). It absorbs a large proportion of sun's ultraviolet radiation and thus acts as a protective umbrella
to the living things on the earth. The studies show that reduction in ozone layer has adverse effect on
plants, animals as well as aquatic organisms. It is believed that within the next 40 years the excess of
solar ultraviolet radiation can destroy 8-10% of the world's total production of wheat, legumes and other
crops. Unpredictable mutations, skin cancer, cataract, immune deficiencies etc. are additional negative
consequences. The ozone shield must be protected on an international level otherwise life would vanish
from this planet.

17.1.4. Wind

Winds carry water vapor which may condense and fall in the form of rain, snow or hail. Wind plays a
role in pollination and seed dispersal of some plants, as well as the dispersal of some animals, such as
insects. Wind erosion can remove and redistribute topsoil, especially where vegetation has been reduced.
Warm berg winds results in desiccation which creates a fire hazard.
17.3. Water Stress influence on plants –

Water is absolutely essential for any plant species. Plants can be grouped according to their natural
habitats with respect to water supply. Hydrophytes are plants that are adapted to living in water or in soil
saturated with water. The hydrophytes usually have large interconnected intercellular gas-filled spaces in
their root and shoot tissues (aerenchyma) to facilitate air exchange. Mesophytes are the most common
terrestrial plants that are adapted to neither a long wet nor a long dry environment. Depending on the
extension of their root systems and other plant features, however, their water requirement varies.
Xerophytes are plants that can endure relatively long periods of drought. The xerophytes usually have
special features such as reduced permeability to decrease water loss, swollen tissues to conserve water, or
deep and extensive root systems to acquire water.

Water is crucial for crop productivity and quality. However, crop water requirements differ according to
plant and soil types. A plant's total sum of water requirement includes the water the crop uses by itself and
also the losses due to evapotranspiration (which includes both plant transpiration and soil evaporation),
water application, land preparation, and leaching during the crop growth period.

17.3.1. Drought/Moisture deficit influence on plants

Drought is defined as a period without significant rainfall or soil moisture. Droughts may lead to plant
water deficit (drought stress) and growth may be impacted. Drought stress usually occurs when soil water
content is less than 50% of field capacity (i.e., when the soil is full of water, hence 100%). Drought stress
symptoms include wilting, droopy, curling or rolling of leaves; or browning of shoot tips. Among the
mesophytes, the effect of drought stress varies with the species, variety, degree and duration of drought
stress, and the growth stage. The yield formation stage is most sensitive for most vegetables. Periods of
even short drought stress during this period can reduce yield.
Water shortages caused by global warming will be the greatest problem for crop production. Plants
fundamentally rely on adequate fresh water, and agricultural water accounts for 70% of water use world-
wide. As higher temperatures increase evaporation from water sources and decrease precipitation, arid
regions will become further desertified. Particularly in semiarid regions, the cultivatable area will
decrease because of drought, and this could result in famines and mass migration. As well, it is likely that
there will be human conflicts.
As global warming progress, there will be increased evaporation from the earth’s surface and from plants.
Even a 1°C temperature increase would increase the amount of evaporation from the earth. As well,
increased temperatures result in more concentrated, heavy rainfall, and crops show decreased rainfall use
efficiency in such circumstances. Snowfall, which results in stored water resources, also decreases with
higher temperatures, and snow melts more rapidly. Together, these factors could combine to increase
drought in the major agricultural regions—the mid-latitude continents. This could significantly restrict
the world’s food supply.
Desertification of dry areas is very likely to result from global warming. In dry areas, water moves from
subsurface to surface layers of the soil. Therefore, when capillary water reaches the ground or irrigation
water evaporates, the soluble salts that dissolved into the water in the lower layers are concentrated in the
surface soil layer. As a result, salt accumulates at the soil surface, where it negatively affects or prevents
plant growth. In dry regions, more water will evaporate as temperatures increase, turning these areas into
deserts. Desertification decreases the amount of vegetation, reducing CO2 absorption by plants, and
further progressing global warming. The area of the world’s deserts is expanding by 60,000 km 2 each
year, and the desertification of humid and semi-arid areas and the dry sub-humid areas used to cultivate
wheat and other grains could cause a serious food crisis. Strong tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons,
and cyclones severely damage farmland. The numerous tropical storms in recent years are thought to be a
result of global warming. Theoretically, the increase in the number of strong tropical storms is because of
increased evaporation—the energy source for tropical storms—due to the rise in the temperature of the
ocean’s surface (Emanuel, 1987). Walsh (2004) indicated that the tropical cyclone intensity will increase
by 5–10% around 2050, along with increased peak rainfall rates of approximately 25%. More recent
climate model predictions are that the number of cyclones will decrease by approximately 30% under
global warming, but their duration will be longer (Oouchi et al., 2005). Therefore, low-lying areas could
be at high risk because of longer tropical storms and increased sea levels.

17.3.2. Flooding/Water logging influence on crops plants

Flooding occurs when water enters soil faster than it can drain away. Intense rainfall, river overflow,
increased surface run-off, over-irrigation, and slow drainage through the soil profile all contribute to
flooding, especially in lowland regions. Under waterlogged conditions all pores in the soil are filled with
water, depriving the soil of oxygen. As a result, plant roots cannot obtain oxygen for respiration to maintain
their activities for nutrient and water uptake. Weakened plants are susceptible to soil-borne diseases.
Oxygen deficiency in the soil due to water logging also causes death of root hairs, and increases formation
of compounds toxic substances to plant growth. All of these lead to retarded growth or the death of the
plant. The extent of flooding damage depends upon the species or variety, stage of plant development,
duration of flooding, water level in the soil, soil texture, temperature, and type of microorganisms present.
High temperatures usually accelerate the damaging effects. Most mesophytes and xerophytes are sensitive
to flooding. However, some species are able to tolerate flooding because of their abilities to increase
porosity of the shoot base, or to replace damaged roots.

17.4. Soil factors influence on plant

These factors include soil texture, soil air, soil temperature, soil water, soil solution and pH, together with
soil organisms and decaying matter.

17.4.1. Soil pH
Soil pH is a measure of the soil's acidity or alkalinity, and it affects the plant indirectly by influencing the
availability of nutrients and the activity of microorganisms. Nutrients are most available at pH levels
between 6.5 and 7.5. Nutrients in the soil may be chemically tied up or bound to soil particles and
unavailable to plants if the pH is outside this range. Individual plants have pH preferences and grow best if
planted in soils that satisfy their pH requirements

17.4.2. Soil salinity

Soil salinity refers to the presence of excess salts in soil water, which often results from irrigated
agriculture. After the plants take up the water, the dissolved salts from irrigated water start to accumulate in
the soil. Soil salinity is usually measured as electrical conductivity (EC) of soil solution, and expressed in
decisiemens per meter (dS/m). Excess salts generally affect plant growth by increasing osmotic tension in
the soil, making it more difficult for the plants to take up water. Excessive uptake of salts from the soil by
plants also may have a direct toxic effect on the plants.
Soil salinity is most pronounced in arid areas. Not all plants respond to salinity in a similar manner; some
crops can produce acceptable yields at much higher soil salinity than others. This is because some crops are
better able to make the osmotic adjustments, enabling them to extract more water from a saline soil. For
example, turnip and carrot are among the most sensitive vegetables and can tolerate soil salinities of only
about 1 dS/m before yield declines. Zucchini, on the other hand, can tolerate soil salinity of up to 4.7 dS/m
before yield reduces. The ability of a crop to adjust to salinity is extremely useful. In areas where a build-up
of soil salinity cannot be controlled, an alternative crop can be selected that is both more tolerant of the
expected soil salinity and able to produce economic yields.
In drier areas of Latin America, climate change is likely to lead to salinization and desertification of
agricultural lands, and therefore, food production and security will fluctuate. In some African countries,
climate change could exacerbate erosion, and decreases in yields from rain-fed agriculture of up to 50%
during the period from 2000 to 2020.

17.4.3. Nutrient Stress

The plants require these elements in a certain range, more or less of which produce stress of that mineral
and cause injury. Critical concentration range is that range of concentrations that occurs between
deficiency and luxury consumptions. Nutrient deficiencies or toxicity may be particularly important in
determining the survival and productivity of crop varieties in the agro-ecosystem. Soils may be deficient
in nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium, as well as secondary micronutrients such as magnesium, sulphur,
zinc and boron. In contrast, iron, manganese and aluminium may occur in such high quantities as to
cause toxicity. Nutrient availability may be related to soil pH and precipitation regimes. Information on
soils can help identify soil-related constraints and explain current management practices (Mutsaers et al.
1997).

17.5. Topographic factors affecting plants

It is a nonliving factor that refers to the. “lay of the land It includes the physical features of the.” earth
such as the land elevation, slope terrain (flat, rolling, hilly, etc) ranges and bodies of water. The slope or
inclination of a land is the percentage change in its elevation over a certain distance. It is measured by
dividing the vertical distance from the foot to the top of the land by the horizontal distance between those
points, multiplied by 100. A 45-degree angle of elevation is equivalent to 100% slope.
The steepness of a slope affects plant growth through differential incidence of solar radiation, wind
velocity and soil type. A steep slope is susceptible of rapid surface runoff and soil erosion which cause
soil degradation. It is known that where a landscape serves as a barrier against the movement of pollen or
seed between two plant populations, the populations will begin to differ either through mutation or
genetic drift. However, depending on the plant species and their modes of dispersal, habitat
fragmentation and their separation by distance may not always become effective barriers. Researchers
recently found that humming birds seem to be more effective than bees in transferring pollen of
Penstemon from one mountain range to another across large distances (American Journal of Botany
2011).

The altitude or elevation of the land with respect to the level of the sea surface influences plant growth
and development primarily through temperature effect. The relationship of this abiotic factor to
temperature is like that of distance from the equator to the arctic poles. According to Stiling (1999),
temperature decreases by 1 oC for every 100 m increase in altitude in dry air.

This abiotic factor is an important consideration in crop or site selection for more productive crop
farming. Coconut prefers an elevation not exceeding 600 meters above sea level (masl) (PCARRD 1982);
for better quality, tea is best grown above 1000 masl while rubber requires not more than 500 masl
because at higher elevation latex flow is restricted (Abellanosa and Pava 1987); the seasonality of
ripening of various fruit crops, e.g. durian, is modified when they are planted in different elevations.

The effect of land elevation on plant growth and development is apparent when exploring a high-rise
mountain. Dominance of certain plant types varies with elevation. With change in height from sea level
to 16,000 feet (4,876.8 meters) from the foot to the top of a mountain in the Peruvian Andes or New
Guinea, temperatures change from tropical to subtropical, temperate, and subarctic to arctic.

Likewise, the influence of this abiotic factor on plant growth and distribution is noticeable. There is a
change from tropical vegetation at the coastal base to the oak forest, then conifers, and finally a tundra-
like scene with hardy grasses, mosses and dwarf shrubs. At the arctic top, only occasional lichens are
found on exposed rocks. In the tropics, the timber line above which no more tree grows may be found
between 13,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level or 3,962-4,267 masl .

18. Biotic influence on agro- ecosystem.

The other organisms that comprise the biotic component of agro-ecosystems also have great potential to
shape crop genetic diversity. Interactions with other organisms may be positive, negative or neutral for
the crop plant; all have the potential to influence crop genetic diversity through exerting selection pressures
or conferring selective advantages on individual crop plants. Competition is an interaction resulting from
limited resources in an ecosystem; both organisms are worse off as they each use resources that both need.
Competition may occur between organisms of the same or different species). Mutualism is an interaction in
which two organisms impact each other positively; neither is successful in the absence of the other.
Commensalism is an interorganism interaction in which one organism is aided by the interaction the other
is neither benefited nor harmed. By contrast, amenalism describes an interorganism interaction in which
one organism negatively impacts another organism without receiving any direct benefit itself. A parasitic
relationship involves one organism benefiting from and perhaps depending upon the interaction, while it
harms the other organism. Finally, predation is when an organism benefits through killing and consuming
another.

Perhaps the biotic interactions of greatest concern to farmers are those between crops and their pests.
Herbivorous animals, including mammals, birds and arthropods, may act as predators on crop plants,
while viral, bacterial and fungal diseases harm crops through parasitic relationships. Crop genetic
diversity is an important means of minimizing the threat of these pests in an agroecosystem. Crop plants’
vulnerability to particular pests may vary with agromorphological characteristics like plant height,
pubescence or time to maturity, in addition to the variability in specific genetic traits for pest resistance.
Crop genetic variation, and hence phenotypic variation, may also attract a diversity of other organisms
into the agroecosystem, including the natural enemies (predators or parasites) of pests .

Crop plants and their pests have adapted to each other over time in a process called co-evolution. One of
the most important aspects of co-evolution for on-farm conservation is crop plants’ resistance to pests
(and conversely, the ability of pests to overcome host resistance), which depends upon the development
of new genetic diversity . The genetic diversity evolved by crops and pests through co-evolution is
particularly complex because both are genetically variable over time and space. Indeed, the diversity of
pest-induced stresses on a particular crop is often closely correlated with diversity in the crop’s
resistance.

The complexity of crop-pest interactions in agroecosystems is increased by their seasonal or annual

variability. Pest populations fluctuate with changing climatic conditions, farmer inputs and host
resistance. In addition, pests can be highly mobile, especially with assistance from humans. This ease of
mobility, coupled with favourable conditions, may engender widespread epidemics, with severe effects
on host populations.

Competition with other organisms may also foster crop genetic diversity. Weeds are the primary
competitors of crop plants of concern to farmers. Weeds can reduce or inhibit growth. Crops and weeds
within the same agroecosystem can have similar requirements in terms of water, light and nutrients – the
essential resources. Organism interactions within an agroecosystem are not always competitive and may
be neutral, commensal or mutualistic. Crops cultivated together in an intercropping system may have
faced selection pressures to develop complementary needs, using different resources or using them at
different times. Crops have also adapted to take advantage of symbiotic relationships with non-plant
organisms, such as insect pollinators and, in the case of leguminous plants, nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium
bacteria. Finally, human beings are the most significant biotic factor shaping agroecosystems.

To achieve high yields, crops must be protected from pests, diseases, and weeds. Of the total cropping
area worldwide, crop yield is decreased by 10–20% by weeds. Many C4 weeds are found in arable C3
crops and many C3 weeds in arable C4 crops. Therefore, under high temperatures and increased
atmospheric CO2 concentrations, weed damage to arable C4 crops in tropical and subtropical semiarid
areas is predicted to increase. It is likely that global warming will result in pests and diseases that are
currently found in low-latitude regions spreading to high-latitude regions. Bacteria and fungi are the main
causal agents of plant diseases, and their optimal growth temperatures are approximately 25°C and above
30°C, respectively. Temperature also affects the growth of insects, with higher temperatures increasing
their growth rate. Therefore, continued warming is expected to increase damage to crops from bacteria,
fungi, and insects.
19. Agro-ecosystem management strategy
If a crop population has a diverse genetic make-up, the risk of its being entirely lost to any particular
stress, such as temperature extremes, droughts, floods, pests and other environmental variables, is
reduced. Different crops and varieties may differ in their vulnerability to specific threats (e.g. traits for
resistance to a specific disease). In addition, vulnerability to stresses may vary with the crop’s level of
maturity, from the planting to post-harvest stages, particularly in the case of pests, to which even post-
harvest yields may still be at risk. Crops with different planting times and times to maturity give the
farmer the options to plant and harvest crops at multiple points in the season to guard against total crop
loss to environmental threats.

By altering the environmental selection pressures that crop plants face, farmers' crop management
practices can impact the genetic diversity within local populations. For instance, in dry areas, irrigated
crops face far less natural selection for drought tolerance than those relying solely on rainfall.

However, because plant development is based on both the plant's genotype and its environment, the
precise effects of farmer manipulations of agroecosystems on local genetic diversity are not entirely
understood. There are numerous hypotheses as to the impacts of various farmer inputs on genetic
diversity, such as the quantity and content of fertilizers. However not every farming practice will play a
significant role in shaping local genetic diversity. The challenge facing scientists working in on-farm
 conservation is to determine what manipulations of the environment farmers practice, and in turn what
the precise effects of these practices are on crop genetic diversity.

Some strategies to ameliorate the effects of global warming on food production include the development
and use of heat-tolerant varieties, appropriate nutrient and water management, coordination of growing
periods, and control of pests and diseases. In particular, pest/disease control and the use of heat-tolerant
crops are thought to be the most promising approaches. Soybean is sensitive to drought, and so adequate
irrigation must be provided when its evapotranspiration rate increases in response to higher temperatures.
Although wheat is relatively drought-tolerant, water shortages in dry areas are a concern, so efficient
irrigation techniques, e.g. drip irrigation, should be used. The male sterility that results from high-
temperature injury decreases the yields of wheat and maize, but treatment with the plant hormone auxin
can restore fertility. For leafy crops, mulching and shading are useful techniques to prevent increases in
the soil temperature. For fruit crops, useful techniques include the use of various materials to shade and
heat-shield trees, and coordination of the growing period. A night-chilling treatment is a useful
countermeasure to induce floral differentiation of strawberry. For crops in protected cultivation, the
combination of heat pumps, evaporative cooling, air ventilation and shading can achieve optimum growth
conditions.
Table 2. Environmental stresses and possible responses

Environmental factor Possible farmer response to alter environment

Extreme cold Crop sheltering, frost coverage
Extreme heat Crop shading
High clay content/poor drainage Removal of hardpans, addition of drainage lines
High sand content/rapid drainage Addition of water retention lines
High gravel/rock content Removal or rock material
High or low pH Fertilizers, soil additives
Low nutrient content Fertilizers, soil additives, intercropping, crop
rotation with legumes
High aluminium or salt content Fertilizers, soil additives
High precipitation/ Waterlogged Addition of drainage lines
soils
Low annual precipitation Irrigation systems/ water harvesting
Low seasonal precipitation Temporary/seasonal irrigation systems
Desertification Sand barriers
High erosion potential Flattening field slopes, developing terraces
Low light intensity Thinning possible shade
Long/short photoperiod Agroforestry, crop rotation
Strong local winds Plant/build windbreaks, agroforestry
Pests Pesticides, physical barriers, intercropping, crop
rotation
Diseases Avoidance of conditions favorable to disease,
fungicides, crop rotation
Plant competition Weeding, reduced plant spacing, herbicides

20. Effect of Global Climate Change in Crop Production

Agriculture constitutes the back bone of most African countries and is a major contributor to the gross
domestic product (GDP) of the region. It accounts for about a third of Africa's GDP, employs in many
countries about 60-90% of the total labor force and is the main source of livelihood for poor people. In
addition, most of Africa's poor live in rural areas, where they depend, directly or indirectly, on agriculture
for livelihood. Any improvement in this sector would amount to an increase in the rural incomes and the
purchasing power of a large number of the population in the region and, this would reduce poverty and
hunger and ensures sustainable development.
Climate has a direct linkage with the plants. The type of climatic zones also determines the type of the
plants. For plants to grow, they require essentially four resources, water, nutrition, temperature and light
which are affected by climate change. Climate change is considered as posing the greatest challenge to
agriculture and food security in the world specially; Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). This is because the
region is vulnerable to climatic change and its coping capacity is perceived to be low. Reports indicate
that food production, including access to food, in many countries is projected to be severely
compromised by climatic variability and change. This means that areas suitable for agriculture would be
negatively affected by climatic change and the yield potentials of many high profile crops produced in the
region, particularly in the semi-arid, arid and coastal areas, are expected to decrease. And it would further
affect food security and exacerbate malnutrition. FAO (2008), estimates indicate that the number of
hungry and malnutritioned people due to insufficient food availability and lack of access to food, have
increased from about 90 million in 1970 to 225 million in 2008, and was projected to add another 100
million by 2015.
20.2. CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate is defined as long-term weather patterns that describe a region. Climate is “average weather”,
described statistically in terms of the mean and variability of temperature, precipitation, and wind.
Climate is primarily fuelled by energy (heat) from the Sun, and created by dynamic and complex
interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere (oceans and lakes), cryosphere (ice), land, and
organisms (IPCC, 2001).

Climate variability refers to variations in the prevailing state of the climate on all temporal and spatial
scales beyond that of individual weather events. Variability may be due to natural internal processes
within the climate system, or to variations in natural or anthropogenic (human-driven) external forcing.
Climate change indicates a change in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting
for several decades or longer. This includes changes in average weather conditions on Earth, such as a
change in average global temperature, as well as changes in how frequently regions experience heat
waves, droughts, floods, storms, and other extreme weather. It is important to note that changes in
individual weather events will potentially contribute substantially to changes in climate variability.

As the Sun’s rays (short-wave radiation) enter the atmosphere, about 30% of the radiated energy is
reflected back into outer space by clouds, dust particles, snow, and ice, 20% is absorbed by clouds and
50% is absorbed by things on the Earth’s surface such as rocks, soil, water, plants, buildings, and
pavement. Some of the heat that warms the Earth’s surface returns to the atmosphere as long-wave
radiation where it is caught by atmospheric gases that are chemically and structurally able to retain this
long-wave heat energy. These are greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH4),
which stay aloft anywhere from a few years (e.g., CH 4 remains in the atmosphere for 21 years) to
thousands of years (e.g., sulphur hexafluoride [SF 6] remains for up to 3,200 years). The more heat-
collecting gas molecules that are in the atmosphere, the warmer it gets. Historically, greenhouse gases
have comprised a small but critical part of the atmosphere. For example, water vapor, CO 2, and other
naturally occurring greenhouse gases help regulate Earth’s climate by capturing heat energy and acting
like an insulating blanket. This keeps Earth’s surface temperature 33oC warmer than it would otherwise
be and provides enough heat for life on Earth.
Climate change is caused by natural events and human activities. For example, solar radiation varies with
shifts in Earth’s orbit and tilt relative to the Sun, both of which change over tens of thousands of years.
The Sun itself releases varying amounts of energy, affecting global climate. Volcanoes cool the
atmosphere by spewing fine particles into the upper atmosphere reflecting incoming solar radiation back
out into space. In extreme cases, volcanic activity can affect global climate for several years.

Although humans began altering Earth’s ecosystems and emitting increased amounts of greenhouse gases
with the invention of agriculture, the industrial revolution that began around 1750 marked the beginning
of the release of truly significant amounts of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere. The presence of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere is a natural component of the climate system and helps to maintain the Earth as a
habitable planet. More recently; several artificial compounds have been emitted, such as sulfur
hexafluoride and Perfluoropentane (C5F12). Although emitted in relatively small quantities, these
greenhouse gases are potent. Greenhouse gases are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation,
allowing the sun’s energy to pass through the atmosphere to the surface of the Earth. The energy is then
absorbed by the Earth’s surface, used in processes like photosynthesis, or emitted back to space as
infrared radiation. Some of the emitted radiation passes through the atmosphere and travels back to space,
but some is absorbed by greenhouse gas molecules and then re-emitted in all directions. The effect of this
is to warm the Earth’s surface and the lower atmosphere.

The combustion of fossil fuels is not the only anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide. Burning fossil
fuels (coal, oil, and gas), converting forests to non-forested conditions (this is deforestation, which
contrasts with the sustainable harvest and regeneration of forests), and draining wetlands, atmospheric
CO2 has increased 31% since pre-industrial times (IPCC 2001). Currently, up to a quarter of the carbon
dioxide emissions to the atmosphere can be attributed to land-use change. The increased concentrations
of greenhouse gases keep more heat energy in the lower atmosphere, which increases temperatures, since
1900 the global surface temperature of the Earth has risen by about 0.8 oC, and since the 70s by about 0.5
o
C and alters precipitation (IPCC 2001). Because global temperature has increased dramatically since
1978 but the Sun’s energy reaching the Earth has remained constant, most scientists have concluded that
this rise in temperature is due to greenhouse gas emissions from human activity (National Academies of
Science 2006). The IPCC acknowledges that if the atmospheric concentration of CO 2 doubles the global
average temperature could rise between 1.5 and 4.5 oC at equilibrium.
Water vapor (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are the two largest contributors to the greenhouse effect.
Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other greenhouse gases are present
only in trace amounts, but can still have a powerful warming effect due to their heat-trapping abilities and
their long residence time in the atmosphere. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth’s average temperature
would be -0.4°F (-18°C), rather than the present 59°F (15°C). Concentrations of greenhouse gases – and
especially carbon dioxide – have risen over the past two hundred and fifty years, largely due to the
combustion of fossil fuels for energy production. Since the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth
century the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from about 270 parts per million
(ppm) to about 370 ppm. Concentrations of methane have also risen due to cattle production, the
cultivation of rice, and release from landfills. Nearly one-third of human-induced nitrous oxide emissions
are a result of industrial processes and automobile emissions.

20.2.1. Climate change, crop production and food accessibility

Crop production and food accessibility are key elements for determining whether an individual, a
household or even a given regions food secured. These elements are affected by climate change. Thus,
climate change is a critical element for assessing the household or regional food security.

FAO (2008), stated that climate change will affect food security through its impacts on all components of
global, national and local food systems. There is an overwhelming report that climate change will bring
both impacts and opportunities with respect to crop production. Crop production is one aspect of the food
systems affected by climate change. It is very pertinent to look at how climate change affects crop
production. This is because crop production doesn't only look at how the crops we consume are
produced, but it is also an employer of labor specially in sub Saharan Africa where over 70% of the
people depend on farming for their livelihood. Any change affecting the crop production in SSA will
have significant ripple effects that result not only in the reduction of the available food but also increases
market prices in the region.

20.1.1. Impact of climate change on crop production

Climate change affects crop production through direct impact on the biophysical factors such as plant and
animal growth and the physical infrastructure associated with food processing and distribution. Recent
research suggests that some impacts of climate change are occurring more rapidly than previously
anticipated. Crop production is directly affected by many aspects of climate change, stemming primarily
from: average temperature increase, change in rainfall amount and patterns, rising atmospheric
concentration of CO2, change in climatic variability and extreme events and sea water rise.

A. Average temperature increase

Crop germination and growth rely on optimal temperatures during the period of greatest growth rate.
Therefore, non-optimal temperatures slow the growth rate or stop growth altogether. The limiting
temperatures for growth are minimum and maximum temperatures, and these vary among crop varieties
and among different growth stages in the same crop. In particular, temperature strongly affects crops
during their reproductive period, from pollen formation to fertilization. Low or high temperatures during
this period can prevent crop fertilization and cause seed abortion.

Global climate change is a dynamic process affecting global air temperature, oceanic temperature,
rainfall, wind and quality of incoming solar radiation. Global circulation models predict 1.4 to 5.8 °C rise
in global temperature because of projected increase in the concentrations of all greenhouse gases by the
end of the 21st century (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2007). Increase in mean,
maximum and minimum temperatures are forecasted for most regions of the world as a result of climate
change, i.e., high concentration of CO2. Naturally such climatic conditions affect crop production. It is
anticipated that for moderate global average temperature increases (1–3°C) there will be an overall
increase in global food production. Additional temperature increases, however, would result in an overall
decrease in food.

High atmospheric temperatures induce heat injury and physiological disorders in some crops, which will
decrease the incomes of farmers and agricultural productivity. Photosynthesis is one of the most sensitive
physiological processes to high temperature stress. Reproductive development is more sensitive than
vegetative development to high temperatures, and heat-sensitivity differs among crops. In tomato, the
optimal temperature for fruit set was reported as 21–24°C or 22–25°C, while pollen viability and release
are adversely affected by high temperatures, and become major limiting factors for fruit set.

It is expected that countries in the low latitude (tropical and subtropical) regions, where water availability
is low, would generally be at risk of decreased crop yield at even 1-2 oC of warming. This is as a result of
increased evapotranspiration and lower soil moisture levels. Climate change has been causing a drastic
change in weather patterns both in summer and winter resultantly adversely affecting the crop yields.
Large variability has been observed in the thermal regimes. scientists diagnosed the causes of reduction
in wheat yield in Ludhehana province of India while the visible crop condition was the best. They
pointed out that the occurrence of mild heat wave (13 days above normal 2-3oC temperatures) in early
spring at reproductive stage caused 28% reduction in the grain yield of wheat.

In Sindh and Southern Punjab of Pakistan (2006), was 2-4oC warmer than normal and significant yield
reduction were reported. Wheat was in the grain formation phase; high temperatures accelerated the
development as the required heat units were met immediately. The grains could not gain proper size and
weight rather they were shriveled hence resulted in reduced yield. When temperature remained 3-6 oC
above normal, early maturity did not allow the young wheat grains to grow their normal weight, size and
starch contents and yielded 13% less production per hectare. Higher night temperature, the respiration
over ruled the photosynthesis causing reduction in net grain. Rice grain yield declined 10% for each 1oC
increase in minimum temperature.

Table 1. High temperature injury of crops (Yamazaki, 1985).

Long- and short-term episodes of heat stress are predicted to occur more frequently as a result of global
warming, affecting many aspects of crop growth and development, reducing crop yield and decreasing
crop quality. Many studies have reported the impacts of long- and short-term temperature stresses on crop
production. However, most of the studies assume no difference in the influence of day versus night
temperature. High night temperature is known to decrease yield in several crops like cereals [rice, wheat
(Triticum aestivum L.) and corn (Zea Mays L.)], legumes [cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.)], oil
seeds [soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), vegetables [tomato
(Solanum lycopersicum L.)], fruits [apples (Malus domestica L.) and pineapple (Ananas comosus L.)] and
fibers [cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)]
a. Rice
In rice, seed abortion occurs when plants are subjected to temperatures above 35°C. When the average
temperature exceeds 26–27°C at 20 days after ear emergence, grain filling and grain quality are
decreased, and there are more immature grains.

Wheat

The number of wheat tillers decreases in response to high temperatures, especially high night-time
temperatures. In such conditions, shoot elongation is promoted but there are more immature grains and
decreased yields because of dark respiration. Moreover, unusually early panicle initiation caused by
warm winters can increase the risk of frost damage.

Soybean

The growth of soybean decreases above 38°C, but soybean is relatively heat-tolerant. However, pollen
viability was lower at day/night temperature conditions of 37/27°C than at 27/27°C, and the rate of pod
setting at 32/27°C was lower than that at 27/27°C /

At high temperatures, seedlings grow faster and the differentiation and development of flowers is also
promoted. However, the rate of flower set decreases and flowers are of poor quality. High temperatures
during flowering induce flower abscission, malformed flowers, and pollen sterility in tomato plants. High
temperatures also result in poor flowering, poor fruit quality, and color disorders.

B. Change in rainfall amount and patterns

Plants fundamentally rely on adequate fresh water, and agricultural water accounts for 70% of water use
world-wide. Water shortages caused by global warming will be the greatest problem for crop production.
As higher temperatures increased evaporation from the earth’s surface and from plants and decreased
precipitation, arid regions will become further desertified. Particularly in semiarid regions, Increase in
temperature along with reduced precipitation will likely result in the loss of arable land in the region due
to decreased soil moisture, increased aridity, increased salinity and groundwater depletion and this could
result in famines and mass migration. As well, it is likely that there will be human conflicts over
irrigation water and food. Even a 1°C temperature increase would increase the amount of evaporation
from the earth. As well, increased temperatures result in more concentrated, heavy rainfall, and crops
show decreased rainfall use efficiency in such circumstances. Snowfall, which results in stored water
resources, also decreases with higher temperatures, and snow melts more rapidly. Together, these factors
could combine to increase drought in the major agricultural regions—the mid-latitude continents. This
could significantly restrict the world’s food supply.

FAO (2008), reported that as a result of climate change, the temperate regions (wet areas) could become
wetter and the dry areas in the tropics could become drier. The intensity of rainstorms could increase (in
some areas) and precipitation could become more variable and unpredictable. The change in rainfall can
affect soil erosion rates and soil moisture, both of which are important for crop yields.

Water shortages could lead to water rationing and higher water costs and will limit opportunities to
maintain or extend these cultivated agricultural lands through the use of irrigation. FAO (2008), opined
that reduction in available good quality water for crop at certain times of the year will negatively affected
food supplies. Countries which rely on rain-fed agriculture like Ethiopia, distortion of the rain fall pattern
would limit crop production and this would bring untold physical and socio-economic hardship to the
rural farmers.

Desertification of dry areas is very likely to result from global warming. In dry areas, water moves from
subsurface to surface layers of the soil. Therefore, when capillary water reaches the ground or irrigation
water evaporates, the soluble salts that dissolved into the water in the lower layers are concentrated in the
surface soil layer. As a result, salt accumulates at the soil surface, where it negatively affects or prevents
plant growth. In dry regions, more water will evaporate as temperatures increase, turning these areas into
deserts. Desertification decreases the amount of vegetation, reducing CO 2 absorption by plants, and
further progressing global warming. The area of the world’s deserts is expanding by 60,000 km 2 each
year, and the desertification of humid and semi-arid areas and the dry sub-humid areas used to cultivate
wheat and other grains could cause a serious food crisis.

C. Rising Atmospheric Concentrations of CO2

Carbon dioxide is a key molecule for photosynthesis. In plants, photosynthesis occurs mainly in the
leaves. Under ‘normal’ conditions, the atmospheric CO2 concentration is very low. The atmospheric CO 2
concentration has been rising, and that this rise is due to the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. In
general, increased CO2 concentrations temporary promote photosynthesis; however, the photosynthetic
rate decreases over an extended period of exposure to high CO2 concentrations.
Measuring in terms of volume, there were about 280ppm at the beginning of the industrial revolution and
there are 360ppm today, a 30% rise. The annual increase is 2ppm, and rising. If present trends continue,
the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will double at about 700ppm in the latter half of the 21 st
century.

Increasing atmospheric CO2 level is beneficial to plant; it acts as a fertilizer by enhancing the growth and
development of crops. A doubling of the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere would increase
plant productivity by almost one-third. Increased in the atmospheric CO2 levels would stimulate
photosynthesis and improves water-use efficiency. Most plants would grow faster and bigger, with
increase in leaf size and thickness, stem height, branching, and seed production. The number and size of
fruits and flowers would also rise. Root/top ratios would increase, giving many plants better root systems
for access to water and nutrients. Thus resulting in an increase in the crop biomass and yield. However,
the increasing atmospheric CO2 level does not only contribute to increased crop yields, but is also a major
cause of the green house effect.

The “CO2 fertilizer effect” and it is used to promote crop growth in greenhouses and plant factories. This
effect is more pronounced in C3 crops, such as wheat, soybean, and rice, but less so in C4 crops, such as
maize, millet, and sugarcane. This is because the current atmospheric CO2 concentration limits
photosynthesis in C3 plants, but not in C4 plants because of their ability to concentrate CO2 in the cells. If
the concentration of CO2 is doubled, the photosynthetic rate of many C 3 plants increases by 30–60%, but
in most C3 plants these promoted rates are temporary, and there are no promotion effects in the long term.
Thus, it is thought that the changes in the photosynthetic apparatus or other photosynthetic factors that
occur during short-term responses to increased CO2 differ from those during long-term exposure to
increased CO2. This phenomenon often occurs when photosynthetic production exceeds plant growth.

For many crops, the predicted yield increase in response to a 700 ppm CO2 concentration is
approximately 30%; specifically, a yield increase of 31% in wheat (Amthor, 2001), 29–35% in rice, 55%
in soybean , and 50% in maize. However, the promoting effects will vary according to the specific nature
of the plant and its sinks, e.g., seeds or bulbs. Even though photosynthesis in C 3-type crops is generally
inhibited by long-term exposure to high CO 2 concentrations, those that have separate organs to
accumulate photosynthetic products appear to be unaffected. For example, inhibition of photosynthesis in
crops such as radish and potatoes has not been observed. Also, if water and mineral nutrients become
limiting factors, the promoting effects of increased CO 2 concentration on crop production are minor. This
may because there is insufficient water and mineral nutrients to support an increase in photosynthesis,
because of the balance of growth between the root and the shoot.

D. Change in climatic variability and extreme events

Strong tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones severely damage farmland. The numerous
tropical storms in recent years are thought to be a result of global warming. Theoretically, the increase in
the number of strong tropical storms is because of increased evaporation—the energy source for tropical
storms—due to the rise in the temperature of the ocean’s surface .The tropical cyclone intensity will
increase by 5–10% around 2050, along with increased peak rainfall rates of approximately 25%. More
recent climate model predicted that the number of cyclones will decrease by approximately 30% under
global warming, but their duration will be longer. Several studies that projected increased frequency of
extreme weather events, which will have more serious consequences for food production and food
security, in areas which are highly dependent on rain fed agriculture. In such areas climate variability,
particularly severe flooding and droughts have been directly linked to declines in economic activity.
These extreme weather events can seriously damage crop production, and destabilize farm management
and the lives of consumers. However, these agricultural problems are most likely to occur in the medium
and long-term future. Extreme events are not new phenomena in agriculture, but are expected to increase
in frequency and the areas subject to extreme events are likely to expand

Sub Saharan Africa region has experienced a series of extreme precipitation events that seem to be linked
to changing climate. Mozambique flood had apart from huge human losses a devastating effect on the
agriculture of Mozambique with approximately 90% of the country's functioning irrigation infrastructure
damaged and a significant loss in agricultural land that resulted many households without food.

E. Rise in sea water level

Sea level is set to rise as a consequence of increasing global temperatures. Both will increase the
vulnerability of coastal and low lying agricultural lands factoring in impacts such as coastal inundation,
soil salinization and intense rainfall. Sea level has already risen by 15 to 20cm due to the melting of
glaciers and polar ice, as well as rising temperature in the ocean.

There is a significant uncertainty with regard to how much sea level could rise, but current projections
suggest a sea level rise of about half a meter by 2100 can be expected and that it could possibly be
significantly higher. The countries that would be vulnerable to sea water rise in SSA include: Gambia,
Gulf Guinea, Senegal, Southern Mediterranean and Mozambique. Coastal inundation and soil salinizaiton
will lead to a loss in Agricultural land in the region. This would significantly affect crop production in the
coastal regions, leading to regional loss in farmer's income and food supply systems.

20.1.2. Climate change on weeds, insect pests and diseases

To achieve high yields, crops must be protected from pests: insects, diseases, and weeds. Of the total
cropping area worldwide, crop yield is decreased by 10–20% by weeds (Mirrabelli et al., 2005). Many C4
weeds are found in arable C3 crops and many C3 weeds in arable C4 crops. Therefore, under high
temperatures and increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations, weed damage to arable C 4 crops in tropical
and subtropical semiarid areas is predicted to increase.

Climate change affects the geographic distribution of pests and pathogens, with potentially serious
implications for food security. It is likely that global warming will result in pests and diseases that are
currently found in low-latitude regions spreading to high-latitude regions. Temperature raise will expand
the range of many agricultural pests and diseases by increasing the ability of pest population to survive
and attack crops there by cause yield reduction. Bacteria and fungi are the main causal agents of plant
diseases, and their optimal growth temperatures are approximately 25°C and above 30°C, respectively.
There is evidence of the growing season being extended in many places, i.e. number of day-degrees. In
many countries this will enable earlier sowing and more crop species to be grown, but generally greater
opportunities for increased disease pressure (Peltonen-Sainio et al., 2009). The effect of this is shown by
Hannukkala et al. (2007), in the number of days after planting when the first outbreak of late blight
occurs on potato in Finland, which decreased progressively over the 1990s.

In a majority of the examples reviewed by Chakraborty et al. (2000), disease severity increased with
elevated CO2 concentration, but in some examples it decreased. There can also be direct effects on
pathogen growth; for example, the enhanced growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides infecting
Stylosanthes scabra at high CO2 (Chakraborty and Datta 2003). CO2 can also affect pathogen fecundity
which was shown to increase under elevated CO2 levels leading to enhanced rates of pathogen evolution
(Chakraborty and Datta, 2003). Arabidopsis thaliana was more susceptible to Erysiphe cichoracearum
under high CO2 concentration, correlated with increased stomatal density and guard cell length, but there
were inherent differences between ecotypes in this response (Lake and Wade, 2009). In rice, enhanced
susceptibility to Magnaporthe oryzae under elevated CO2 was attributed to lower leaf silicon content
(Kobayashi et al. 2006)

Higher levels of atmospheric CO2 increase susceptibility of soybean plants to the Japanese bettle and
maize to the western corn root worm. However, there is evidence that elevated CO 2 could compromise
crop resistance to some insect pests (Zavala et al., 2008; 2009). Most recently, this has been reported for
resistance in red raspberry (Rubus idaei) to the European large raspberry aphid (Amphorophora idaei)
(Martin and Johnson, 2010). As a vector of at least four plant viruses (including black raspberry necrosis
virus, raspberry leaf mottle virus, raspberry leaf spot virus and Rubus yellow net virus) A. idaei is
considered to be the most significant disease vector of this crop. Martin and Johnson (2010), reported that
under elevated CO2, the number of aphids on a cultivar containing A1 resistance (McMenemy et al.,
2009) became equivalent to an entirely susceptible cultivar with corresponding increases in body mass.

20.1.3. Impact of Climate change on yield of crop

Climate models predicted increased evapotranspiration and lower soil moisture levels. This would result
in drought, some agricultural lands becoming unsuitable for cropping and some tropical grassland
becoming increasingly arid. Lobel et al. (2011), exploited historical data from over 20,000 field trials of
maize conducted in Africa over the past decade and they found out that each 'degree day' that the crop
spends above 30oc (a unit that reflects both the amount and duration of heat experienced by the plant)
depresses yield by 1% if plants are receiving sufficient water. They also revealed that water availability
has an important effect on the crop sensitivity; with yields decreasing by 1.7% for each degree day spent
over 30oc under drought condition. Thus, under non-drought condition 65% of the land area in Africa that
is under maize cultivation at present would experience yield loss from a uniform 1 oc warming under
drought conditions, 100% of the cultivated area would experience yield loss, with 75% of this area
suffering yield loses of at least 20%. Climate change exacerbate drought and land degradation, with
estimation of 5-8% increase (60-90 million ha) of arid and semi arid land in Africa (parry et al., 2007).

By the mid-21st century, crop yields in East and Southeast Asia may increase by up to 20%, while those
in central and South Asia may decrease by up to 30% if the direct positive physiological effects of CO 2
are taken into account. Western New Zealand is likely to receive more rain, but large areas of mainland
Australia and eastern New Zealand are likely to have less soil moisture. Therefore, the increased drought
and frequency of fires could decrease crop production. In North America, it is predicted that there will be
climate related yield increases of 5–20% over the first decades of the century, with overall positive
effects of climate persisting through much or all of the 21 st century. However, crops that are currently
growing in areas that are close to their climate thresholds (e.g., wine grapes in California) are likely to
show decreases in yield and/or quality in response to even modest increases in temperature (Hayhoe et
al., 2004; White et al., 2006).

In drier areas of Latin America, climate change is likely to lead to salinization and desertification of
agricultural lands, and therefore, food production and security will fluctuate. In some African countries,
climate change could exacerbate erosion, and decreases in yields from rain fed agriculture of up to 50%
during the period from 2000 to 2020 (Agoumi, 2003). Thus, the phenomenon would result in some of the
agricultural lands in the SSA, which is located in the tropics, becoming unsuitable for cropping and some
grassland becoming unsuitable for pasture (Bals, et al., 2008). This would result in crop yield reduction
in the region.

21. CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION MEASURE

To compound the anticipated negative impacts of climate change on crop production, overall demands
for food will increase as global population continues to rise from 6 billion people today to an anticipated
9 billion by 2050 (UN-DESA, 2004). It is clear that overall crop production will need to continue to
increase by 50% over the next few decades to meet this anticipated demand, although predicting future
global food production is complex. This brings further concerns that, if the rising demand for food is met
through current technologies and cropping practices, further environmental degradation is inevitable
(Bruinsma, 2003). An example is that the increased use of fertilisers would lead to higher green house
gas emissions which in turn exacerbate climate change (‘‘climate forcing’’). Such changes would in turn
further undermine food production.

Agronomy therefore faces two major challenges. The first is to help develop food production systems
that both improve food supply in the face of climate change while simultaneously reducing factors
responsible for climate forcing (Fig. 4). The second is to work more effectively with a range of other
disciplines to help deliver agronomic outputs both better integrated within the overall context of food
security and better tuned to the needs of food security policy formulation.
Advances in crop breeding and agronomy have enabled increase in crop yields over the last 40 years or
so. In Europe, for instance, yields have increased steadily and approximately linearly over the last 45
years, and in the USA, similarly, linear increases in maize, rice and wheat yields (61, 54 and 41 kg/ ha
/year, respectively) have been recorded over the last 50 years.
Some strategies to ameliorate the effects of global warming on food production include the development
and use of heat-tolerant varieties, appropriate nutrient and water management, coordination of growing
periods, and control of pests and diseases. In particular, pest/disease control and the use of heat-tolerant
crops are thought to be the most promising approaches. Soybean is sensitive to drought, and so adequate
irrigation must be provided when its evapotranspiration rate increases in response to higher temperatures.
Although wheat is relatively drought-tolerant, water shortages in dry areas are a concern, so efficient
irrigation techniques, e.g. drip irrigation, should be used. The male sterility that results from high-
temperature injury decreases the yields of wheat and maize, but treatment with the plant hormone auxin
can restore fertility (Sakata et al., 2010). Similarly, Exogenous application of GB or SA (salysilic acid)
increased spikelet fertility in rice. The increase in spikelet fertility was due to increased photosynthesis,
and decreased respiration and injury to the membrane stability as a result of GB or SA application.
Exogenous application of GB or SA increases stability of the membranes as a result of increased
antioxidant capacity of the plants. The enhanced membrane stability is responsible for increased
photosynthesis and decreased respiration, which in turn increases crop production.

For leafy crops, mulching and shading are useful techniques to prevent increases in the soil temperature.
For fruit crops, useful techniques include the use of various materials to shade and heat-shield trees, and
coordination of the growing period. A night-chilling treatment is a useful countermeasure to induce floral
differentiation of strawberry. For crops in protected cultivation, the combination of heat pumps,
evaporative cooling, air ventilation and shading can achieve optimum growth conditions.

A. Parthenocarpy

Fruit develops from the ovary, which itself develops in response to plant hormones that are produced by
seeds formed after fertilization. Fertilization is the fusion of pollen (formed in the anther) and the ovule
(formed in the ovary). However, because pollen is temperature sensitive, high temperatures during pollen
formation induce male sterility. If global warming proceeds at the current rate, fruit production could be
affected in fruit and vegetables that require fertilization. Parthenocarpy is the natural or artificially
induced production of fruit without fertilization of ovules, so this is a promising strategy for fruit
production under global warming. Natural parthenocarpy involves using varieties that have
parthenocarpic genes, while artificial parthenocarpy is induced by hormone treatment. Production of
seedless grapes using GA treatment, and tomato, eggplant, and cucumber production using auxin
treatment.

B. Grafting

Grafting is the vegetative propagation of fruit trees, but in Japan, it has also been used to avoid injury by
continuous cropping of vegetables and soil pests and diseases. Vegetable fruits that can be grafted include
cucurbits such as melons, watermelon, and cucumber, and solanaceous species such as tomato and
eggplant. Grafting can give the characteristics of the rootstock to the scion. Some rootstocks will be more
tolerant to adverse environmental conditions. In particular, grafting scions to rootstock with high
drought- or heat-tolerance can increase growth and yield under high temperatures (Rivero et al., 2003). In
addition, crops that are not salt tolerant can be cultivated in saline areas if grafted onto salt tolerant
rootstock. As mentioned above, grafting is an effective countermeasure for crop production without the
need to breed lines that are tolerant to heat or drought.

22. ECOLOGY OF CROPPING SYSTEMS

22.1.1. Cropping System, Indices and Its Importance

Cropping system: is an important component of a farming system. It represents cropping pattern used on
a farm and their interaction with farm resources, other farm enterprises and available technology which
determine their makeup.
Copping pattern: means the proportion of area under various crops at a point of time in a unit area. It
indicates the yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of crops and fallow in an area.
Cropping scheme is a plan according to which crops are grown on individual plot of a farm during a
given period of time with the object of obtaining maximum return from each crop without impairing soil
fertility. Thus a cropping scheme is related to the most profitable use of resources, land, labour, capital,
and management.
22.1.1.1.Types of Cropping System:

Mono cropping: Mono cropping refers to growing of only one crop on a piece of land year after year.
E.g. under rainfed conditions sorghum is grown year after year.

Multiple cropping: Growing two or more crops on the same piece of land in one calendar year is known
as multiple cropping. It is intensification of cropping in space and time dimensions. It includes
intercropping, sequence cropping .etc.
Intercropping: Intercropping is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land.
For example growing maize + green gram in 2:1 ratio. It contains
a. Mixed cropping: is growing two or more crops simultaneously intermingled without any row
pattern. It is common practice in most of dry land areas
b. Row Intercropping: Intercropping is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same
piece of land with a definite row pattern
Sequence cropping: sequence cropping can be defined as growing of two or more crops in sequence on
the same piece of land in a farming year. It contains
1. Double cropping: Growing of two crops in a year in sequence.
2. Tripple cropping: Growing of three crops in a year in sequence.
3. Quadruple cropping: Growing of four crops in a year in sequence.
Parallel cropping: Cultivation of such crops which have different natural habit and zero competition e.g.
Black gram /green gram+miaze. The peak nutrient demand period for green gram is around 30-35 DAS
while it is 50 DAS for maize.
Multi-storied/multi-tiered cropping/multi-level: Cultivation of two or more than two crops of different
heights simultaneously on a certain piece of land in a certain period e.g., sugarcane+mustard+onion.
Competition effect: Competition of intercropped spp. For light, nutrients, water, carbon dioxide, and
other growth factors.
Complementary effect: Effect of one component on another which enhances growth and productivity.
Sustainable agriculture is a form of agriculture aimed at meeting the needs of present generation
without endangering the resource base of future generation. It is the practice of farming using principles
of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment. It has been defined as
"an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will
last over the long term.
Contour farming is the practice of tilling sloped land along lines of consistent elevation in order to
conserve rainwater and to reduce soil losses from surface erosion. These objectives are achieved by
means of furrows, crop rows, and wheel tracks across slopes, all of which act as reservoirs to catch and
retain rainwater, thus permitting increased infiltration and more uniform distribution of the water.
Contour farming has been practiced for centuries in parts of the world where irrigation farming is

important. Although in the United States the technique was first practiced at the turn of the 19th century,
Crop rotation: The practice of planting a succession of crops in a field over a period of years. Rotations
can maintain field fertility since different crops use different soil nutrients, so excessive demands are not
made of one nutrient. In certain rotations, plants like legumes (peas and beans) are grown to restore
fertility. Crop rotation is a type of cultural control that is also used to control pests and diseases that can
become established in the soil over time. The changing of crops in a sequence tends to decrease the
population level of pests. Plants within the same taxonomic family tend to have similar pests and
pathogens. By regularly changing the planting location, the pest cycles can be broken or limited. For
example, root-knot nematode is a serious problem for some plants in warm climates and sandy soils. It is
also difficult to control weeds similar to the crop which may contaminate the final produce. For instance,
ergot in weed grasses is difficult to separate from harvested grain.
Agro forestry is a collective name for land use systems and practices in which woody perennials are
deliberately integrated with crops and/or animals on the same land management unit. The integration can
be either in a spatial mixture or in a temporal sequence. There are normally both ecological and economic
interactions between woody and non-woody components in agro forestry. In agro forestry systems, trees
or shrubs are intentionally used within agricultural systems, or non-timber forest products are cultured in
forest settings. Knowledge, careful selection of species and good management of trees and crops are
needed to optimize the production and positive effects within the system and to minimize negative
competitive effects.
Alley cropping: Agro forestry, farm forestry and family forestry can be broadly understood as the
commitment of farmers, alone or in partnerships, towards the establishment and management of forests
on their land. Where many landholders are involved the result is a diversity of activity that reflects the
diversity of aspirations and interests within the community. Alley cropping, sometimes referred to as 'sun
systems', is a form of intercropping.
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure,
compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic
farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides (which include
herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics,

food additives, and genetically modified organisms "Organic agriculture is a production system that
sustains the health of soils, and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted
to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines
tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a
good quality of life for all involved.
Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that is modeled
on the relationships found in nature. It is based on the ecology of how things interrelate rather than on the
strictly biological concerns that form the foundation of modern agriculture. Permaculture aims to create
stable, productive systems that provide for human needs; it's a system of design where each element
supports and feeds other elements, ultimately aiming at systems that are virtually self-sustaining and into
which humans fit as an integral part.
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non
forest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use.
The term deforestation is often misused to describe any activity where all trees in an area are removed.
However in temperate mesic climates, the removal of all trees in an area—in conformance with
sustainable forestry practices—is correctly described as regeneration harvest
Agro ecology is the application of ecological principles to the production of food, fuel, fiber, and
pharmaceuticals. The term encompasses a broad range of approaches, and is considered "a science, a
movement, [and] a practice.
Forest farming also known as 'shade systems', is the sustainable, integrated cultivation of both timber
and non-timber forest products in a forest setting. Forest farming is separate and distinct from the
opportunistic exploitation / wild harvest of non-timber forest products. Successful forest farming
operations produce: mushrooms, maple and birch syrup, native plants used for landscaping and floral
greenery.
Silvipasture: Silvipastures combine livestock grazing on forage crops or pastures within actively
managed tree or shrub crops. Cattle, sheep and goats are the most common livestock incorporated into
silvipasture systems and they may be deployed entirely within a private farm/woodlot silvipasture or
through collaborative arrangements between forest licensees and livestock producers on public lands.

22.1.1.3. Efficient Cropping System:

Efficient cropping system for a particular farm depends on farm resources; Farm enterprise and farm
technology. The farm resources include land, labor, water, capital, and infrastructure. When land is
limited, intensive cropping is adopted to fully utilize available water and labor. When sufficient and
cheap labor is available, vegetable crops also include in the cropping system as they require more labor.
Capital intensive crops like sugarcane, banana, turmeric etc... Find a place in the cropping system when
capital is not a constraint. In low rainfall regions (<750mm/annum) mono cropping is followed and
when rainfall is more than 750 mm intercropping is practiced. With sufficient irrigation water. Triple
and quadruple cropping is adopted when other climatic factors are not limiting farm enterprises like
dairying, poultry etc., also influence the type of cropping system. When the farm enterprise includes
dairy, the cropping system should contain fodder cops as components. Chang in cropping system takes
place with the development of technology. The feasibility of growing four crop sequence in gangetic
alluvial plains gave impetus to multiple cropping.

22.1.1.4. Benefits of cropping systems

a) Maintain and enhance soil fertility. Some crops are soil exhausting while others help restore soil
fertility. However, a diversity of crops will maintain soil fertility and keep production level high.
b) Enhanced crop growth. Crops may provide mutual benefits to each other for. for example,
reducing lodging, improving winter survival, or even acting as windbreaks to improve growth.
c) Minimize spread of disease. The more divers the species of plants and the longer period before
the soil is reseeded with the same crop, the more likely disease problems will be avoided.
d) Control weeds. Crops planted at different times of the year have different weed species associated
with them. Rotating crops helps prevent build up of any one serious weed species. The more
different growth cycles the crops have in your rotation, the fewer weeds will be able to adapt to
the field conditions.
e) Inhibit pest and insect growth. Changing crops each year to unrelated species can dramatically
reduce the population of pests and insects. Corp, crop rotation frequently eliminates their food
source and changes the habitat available to them.
f) Increase soil cover. Growing a diversity of crops helps keep field sizes smaller, which increases
 soil cover, improves solar radiation capture and reduces erosion.
g) Use resources more efficiently. Having a diverse group of crops helps to more efficiently use the
available resources, natural resources, such as nutrients, sunlight and water in the soil, are evenly
shared by plants over the growing period, minimizing the risk for nutrient deficiencies and
drought. Other resources, such as labor, animal draft power, and machinery are also utilized more
efficiently as the time and effort spent planting and harvesting crops are more spread out over the
harvesting period.
h) Reduce risk for crop failure. Having a diverse group of crops helps prevent total crops equally. It
also reduces food security concerns, as well as the amount of money required to finance
production.
i) Improved food and financial security. Choosing an appropriate and diverse number of crops will
lead to a moue regular food production throughout the year. With a lower risk for crop failure,
there is a greater reliability on feed production and income generation.

22.1.1.5. Physical resources of cropping system

A. Fertilizer Application.
The amount of nutrients present in the component crops indicates the requirement of fertilizers for the
intercropping system. The nutrient uptake is generally more in cropping system compared to pure crops.
When legumes are associated with cereal crop in intercropping system, a portion of nitrogen requirement
of cereal is supplemented by the legume. The amount may be as small as a few kilograms to 20 kg/ha.
Application of higher dose of nitrogen to the cereal + legume intercropping system not only reduces the
nitrogen fixation capacity of legume, but also growth of legume is suppressed by aggressive cereals
owing to fast growth of cereals with increased availability of nitrogen. Cereal + legume intercropping,
therefore, are mainly advantageous under low fertilizer application. Considering all the factors, it is
suggested that the nitrogen dose recommended for base crop as pure crop is sufficient for intercropping
system with cereals + legume or legume + legume. With regards to phosphorus and potassium, one-
eighth-one-fourth of the recommended dose of intercrop is also added in addition to recommended dose
of base crop to meet the extra demand.
B. Nutrient supplementation index (NSI).

Nutrient supplementation index has been proposed to adjust fertilizer requirement. NSI express the per
cent of usual uptake for a given nutrient by sole crop A which should be added to the intercrops to meet
the combined requirement of crops A and B.
 NSI (A) = 100 [(Na + Nb) -1]
NA
Where, NSI (A) = NAI of crop A for a given nutrient,
NA= nutrient uptake by sole crop A for the same land area (kg/ha),
Na= nutrient uptake of mixture A for the same land area as sole crops A , and
Nb= nutrient uptake of B in mixture for the same land area as sole crop B.
The NSI attempts to adjust total fertilizer input into cropping system, based on the relative uptake of
each component crop as sole crop,
Example, The nitrogen uptake by sole and intercropped finger millet crops is 185 and 163 kg/ha
respectively. Uptake or nitrogen by sole pigeon pea and as intercrop with finger millet is 101 and 40
kg/ha respectively. Calculate the NSI of finger millet?
Solution
NSI = of finger millet = 100x 163x40/185-1 = 9.7 % To satisfy both pigeon pea and finger millet
requirements for nitrogen in the mixture, there is need to add an additional 9.7 per cent of that is required
by sole finger millet. Similarly, NSI for pigeon pea is 100 x 163 + 40 / 101 – 1 = 100 per cent Methods of
fertilizer application are important where the components have different requirements, as with nitrogen in
cereals and legume system. Nitrogen should be applied to the cereal as far away from legume as possible
so that nitrogen fixation by legume is not affected. If both the components require the same nutrient, as
with nitrogen when both the component crops are cereals and phosphorus in cereal and legume systems,
the nutrient can be applied in one application to both.

C. Solar Radiation.
The taller crop in the intercropping systems intercepts most of solar radiation while shorter component
suffers. In some intercropping systems, solar radiation is utilized efficiently by both crops. In groundnut
+ red gram intercropping system, light interception is prolonged as red gram starts growing after the
harvest of groundnut. If the component crops have different growth durations, the peak demand for light
occurs at different times. In maize + green gram intercropping system, green gram flowers in 35 days
after sowing and is harvested 65 days after sowing. Peak light demand for maize occurs at 60 days after
sowing when green gram is ready for harvest. In such intercrops, there is less competition among
component crops and higher solar radiation is intercept in intercropping systems than in pure stands.

Basal dose of nitrogen is applied to rows of both components in cereals + legume intercrop system. Top
dressing of nitrogen is done only to cereal rows. Phosphorus and potassium are applied as basal dose to
both crops.

22.1.1.6. Soil and water management in cropping system.

A. Seedbed preparation.
Seedbed preparation for different crops varies depending on the crop. Deep rooted crops respond to deep
ploughing while for most of the cereals shallow tillage is sufficient the crops with small seed require fine
seedbed. Certain crops like cotton and maize are planted on ridges, while most of the other crops are
grown on flat seedbed. Since more than one crop is involved in intercropping, the seedbed preparation is
generally done as per the needs of base crop. The seedbed for sugarcane, as usual, is made into ridges and
furrows. Sugarcane is planted in furrows and intercrops are sown on ridges. In groundnut + green gram
intercropping system, flat seedbed is preferred for sowing the crops. However, ICRISAT is
recommending broad bed and furrows for black soils of semi-arid regions for pure crops as well as
intercrops grown under rain fed conditions. Where the crop requirements are quite different as in rice +
maize under rain fed conditions and also in agro-forestry, seedbed preparation is done separately for
component crops. In rice + maize intercropping system, ridges and trenches are formed. Maize is planted
on ridges and rice in trenches. In agro forestry, pits are dug for tree species and a rough seedbed is
prepared in interspaces for the introduction of forage crops.
B. Sowing
Sowing practices are slightly altered to accommodate intercrop in such a way that it causes less
competition to the base crop. Sowing of base crop is done either as paired row, paired-wider row or skip-
row plating, the sowing of base crop and intercrop is also done in fixed ratio, in paired-row planting, two
rows of base crop are brought close by reducing inter row spacing. The spacing between the two pairs of
rows are increased so accommodate the intercrop, for example, the normal row spacing of rain fed
groundnut is 30 cm. the row spacing is reduced to 20 cm between the paired rows and 50 cm spacing is
given between two pairs of rows. The spacing in paired row plumping designated as 20/50 cm indicates
that the spacing between two rows in a pair is 20 cm and among the pair 50 cm. similarly, pearl millet is
planted with row spacing of 30/60 cm in paired row planting. These in crop geometry do not alter base
crop yield, but intercrops are benefited to some to some extent. The seed drill used for normal planting
contains tunes with uniform spacing. The spacing of the types on the beam of seed drill is to be changed
to 20/40 or 30/60 as per requirement for sowing in paired rows. Planting in fixed ratio of intercrops is
most common. The intercropping system of groundnut + reed gram is either in 7:1 or 11:1 ratio and
sorghum + red gram + 2:1 ratio. In these cases, the normal three tyned or four tyned or tyned seed drill
can be used without any modification. The whole pertaining to intercrop row in the hopper is closed with
a piece of cloth. In that row, intercrop is sown with akkadi or kera. In traditional cropping systems, the
component crops are grown with sub-optimum population. Yields of intercrops can be increased with
higher pant population. For higher yields, base crop population is maintained at its sole crop population
and intercrop population is kept at 80 per cent of its sole crop population. Even 100 per cent population
of both the crops is maintained with advantage in some intercropping system. For example sorghum red
gram intercropping with 100 per cent population of both crop (180 x 1000 and 50 x 1000) gives higher
yield than lower population of these crops. When the difference in duration of component crops is less
than 30 days, staggered planting is done to increase the difference in duration. The aggressive or
dominant crop is sown 10 to 15 days after sowing the dominated crop.

C. Tillage
Tillage increases conservation of soil moisture by making the soil more permeable to rain water. Deep
tillage (25 to 30 cm) breaks open hard soil layers for faster penetration of rain water. Off season or pre-
monsoon tillage has marked impact on rain water intake and weed management. Improvement in yield
due to off season tillage ranges from 150 to 250 kg/ha under different situations. However, excessive
tillage in light soil accelerates erosion besides creating unfavorable conditions for soil organic matter
buildup. In general, no tillage systems are not ideal under rain fed situation in India.
D. Water Management.
Spatial distribution of maize poorly correlated with soil chemical and physical properties during drought
years. During drought years there is no correlation between crop yield and soil nutrients availability
especially to phosphorus and potassium. There is no relation between soil physical properties like clay
content and organic matter with crop yield. However, there is close correlation between surface water
flows and grain yield of maize of suggest that subsurface hard layers makes the subsurface water to move
in different directions based on the hard pans or clay lens. The subsurface water path ways can be
mapped with color infrared and with ground penetrating radar. The method of increasing water use
efficiency can be grouped into three:
(1) Increasing the efficiency of water delivery and timing of water application.
(2) Increasing the water use efficiency of crop, and
(3) Increasing drought tolerance of crop, water use efficiency (WUE) usually is defined as the yield
obtained per unit of water used in failed scale, WUE= Y/W Where Y is the yield (kg/ha) and W is the
amount of water used by the crop (mm). Yield may be dry matter or amount of carbon fixed etc. in plant
level. WUE varies among species in the same environment among climates for the same crop among
varieties of same crop. WUE of pineapple is about 20 g of dry matter per kilogram of water, 3 to 5 for C4
plants and 2 to 3 C3 plants.
E. Water Storage
Rainfall can be stored directly in the soil for crop production using terraces, contour ridges, and other
types of water retention methods. However, the infiltration characteristics of soil and climatic conditions
limit the efficiency of these methods. With high evaporation rates, collected water is lost to the
atmosphere very rapidly and is therefore, unavailable for plants. The experiment consisted of digging
experimental trenches 80 cm deep, 5 m long and 1 m wide across the land slope between two row of
olive trees, the trenches were filled up to the original soil level using local deposits of fractured rock and
river sand with large infiltration rate. These filled trenches, called sand ditches collect rainfall, intercept
runoff, and store water in the surrounding soil at grater depths so that plants can use it for long time. It
can be a very efficient method since it increases water infiltration and prevents evaporation during the
growing season. Sand ditches increased both the percentage of rainfall stored in soil matrix and the
infiltration depth of water, the calculated ratio of depth of water stored in sand ditch area to rainfall was
73 per cent compared to only 45 per cent in the control area.
23. Production potential under mono- cropping, multiple cropping, alley cropping and sequential
cropping

23.1. Mono-Cropping
With the rise of intensive agriculture, most farmers today utilize mono crop systems, the planting of a
genetically singular crop. Mono crop systems have become more economically rewarding, partly because
government agricultural subsidies tend to favor mono cropping. Cultivating only a single species,
however, can stress the fertile topsoil and reduce genetic diversity. Mono crop systems are often
accompanied by an increase in both farm size and dependency on technology. Such large, intensive
farming systems lend themselves to greater waste production and greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, mono-cropping increases the susceptibility of plants to disease as a single pathogen has the
potential to destroy an entire crop. Rice farms in China have successfully combated diseases that coincide
with mono-cropping by planting genetically dissimilar strains of rice in a field .
Mono- cropping can also contribute to the proliferation of crop pests and diseases, which can be a serious
liability when a farmer's land is planted exclusively with one crop. Mono cropping also generally reduces
crop diversity, which is perceived as a bad thing both because the loss of biodiversity is unfortunate, and
because if a crop does become subject to a particular pest or disease, a lack of biodiversity makes it
especially vulnerable. Hybridization in agriculture is vitally important to maintain genetic diversity, and
by extension the health and longevity of a crop. Many large agricultural companies engage in mono
cropping, planting only one strain of one crop, which is very harmful for diversity and for the crop.
Mono cropping is an agricultural practice in which the same crop is planted year after year, without
practicing crop rotation or resting the soil. While there are some distinct advantages to mono cropping, it
is environmentally questionable, and it can potentially lead to serious economic problems for farmers, as
well. Many environmental advocates would like to see a shift away from mono cropping, as would
people who work in the developing world.
The obvious advantage to mono cropping is that it allows a farmer to specialize in a particular crop,
which means that he or she can invest in machinery designed specifically for that crop, along with high-
yield seeds which will generate a large volume of the crop at harvest. With staple crops like wheat, corn,
and soy, farmers can also be confident that the crop will produce a high income, although this scheme can
backfire; if demand declines radically, a farmer's monocrop may become’s liable.
From an environmental perspective, mono cropping is harmful for a number of reasons. Monocropping
severely depletes the soil, as the plant will strip the soil of the nutrients it needs. This forces farmers to
use fertilizers, which can disturb the natural balance of the soil and contribute to a host of environmental
problems, from pollution to desertification. The soil up on which we grow food is a critical foundation of
our food system and ultimately, our health. Because the food system affects our health so profoundly, it
is critical to keep health and bio-diversity of the soil in which our food is grown. This is true not only for
food crops, but also for animal feed. When our soil is healthy and contains diverse populations of
microorganisms:
E Nutrient content of the soil is increased and produces food with higher nutrients
E Harmful pathogens and bacteria that can make people sick decrease dramatically and encourage the
growth of friendly bacteria
E The larger the number of plant species, the greater the variety of crops, and thus disease and scourge
are less able to take over
E Greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms
E Healthy ecosystems are more likely to survive through incidence of various disasters (flooding, fire,
etc.)
Healthy biodiversity also provides a number of natural services for everyone:
Ecosystem services, such as:
F Protection of water resources
F Soils formation and protection
F Nutrient storage and recycling
F Pollution breakdown and absorption
F Contribution of climate stability
F Maintenance of ecosystems
Biological resources such as:
F Food
F Medicinal resources
F Wood products
F Ornamental products
F Breeding stocks, population reservoirs
F Future resources
F Diversity in genes, species, and ecosystems
Social benefits, such as:
F Research, education, and monitoring
F Recreation and tourism
F Cultural values
According to the Organic Consumers Association:
A growing body of sophisticated research over the last decade has compared the impacts of organic and
conventional farming systems on soil and food qualities based on field experiments and laboratories and
concluded as:
1 Studies of apple production demonstrate that organically farmed soils display improved soil
health as measured by increased biological diversity, greater soil organic matter, and improved
chemical and physical properties. Enhancement of soil quality in organic apple production
systems can lead to measurable improvements in fruit nutritional quality, taste, and storability.
2 Organically farmed tomatoes have significantly higher levels of soluble solids and natural plant
molecules called secondary plant metabolites, including flavonoids, lycopene, and Vitamin C.
Most secondary plant metabolites are antioxidants, a class of plant compounds that have been
linked to improved human health in populations that consume relatively high levels of fruit and
vegetables.
3 Organic farming, can under some circumstances, delay the onset of the “dilution effect.” In
hundreds of studies, scientists have shown that incrementally higher levels of fertilizer negatively
impact the density of certain nutrients in harvested foodstuffs, hence the name, the “dilution [of
nutrients] effect.” Specifically, tomatoes grown with organic fertilizers maintain constant
concentrations of beneficial phenolic secondary plant metabolites and antioxidants, even as fruit
grow larger, whereas concentrations of these same beneficial compounds decline with increasing
fruit size when the same tomato cultivar is grown using conventional methods and fertilizer.
4 Studies of 27 cultivars of organically grown spinach demonstrate significantly higher levels of
flavonoids and vitamin C, and lower levels of nitrates. Nitrates in food are considered detrimental
to human health as they can form carcinogenic compounds (nitrosamines) in the GI tract and can
convert hemoglobin to a form that can no longer carry oxygen in the blood.
5 The levels of secondary plant metabolites in food appear to be driven by the forms of nitrogen
added to a farming system, as well as the ways in which the biological communities of organisms
in the soil process nitrogen. Compared to typical conventional farms, the nitrogen cycle on
organic farms is rooted in substantially more complex biological processes and soil-plant
interactions, and for this reason, organic farming offers great promise in consistently producing
nutrient-enriched foods.
6 Organic soil fertility methods, which use less readily available forms of nutrients, especially
nitrogen, improve plant gene expression patterns in ways that lead to more efficient assimilation
of nitrogen and carbon in tomatoes. This improvement in the efficiency of nutrient uptake leaves
plants with more energy to produce beneficial plant secondary metabolites, compounds that
promote plant health as well as human health.
23.1. Effects of conventional farming on soil and health of ecosystems
Conventional farming uses chemical and synthetically-produced fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and
insecticides to control pests and insects, and weed growth. Farmers following conventional practices use
hormones to artificially spur growth in animals and antibiotics to keep animals “healthy”. The use of
genetically-modified organisms (which have had their DNA altered in a laboratory), which disrupt the
natural life cycle and health of both crops and farm animals are commonly used in conventional farming
both for planting, cultivating, and in feeds for livestock.
Conventional farming, by its very nature, has an adverse effect on microbial properties of soil.
Conventional farming degrades soil fertility, increases erosion, and cause more resistant pests. They also
cause massive amounts of pollution from runoff and chemicals used (pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics,
hormones, and waste residues. They harm our water due to pesticide runoff into groundwater areas,
streams, and rivers. Nitrogen from conventional fertilizers leaching into the oceans “dead zones”.
The use of conventional farming methods actually causes extremely limited growth of organism due to
practice of mono-cropping (planting the same crop year after year) and promotes the destruction of soil
diversity, thereby decreasing nutrient value and nutrition in crops and other products in farming such as
meat, dairy products, and others. These practices, used largely by industrial agriculture, are responsible
for displacing heirloom strains, native crops, and local farmers. It also causes an increased need for
chemical pesticides and fertilizers, due to the increase in disease and scourge in the crops. When plants
growing near each other are too genetically similar as in mono-cropping, it causes vulnerability to the
health of the plants and the ecosystems.
One of the most devastating effects on the environment from conventional farming is the government’s
directive to subsidize farmers growing soy and corn to for ethanol. The intent of this activity is to shift
the dependence from oil to alternative fuel sources. Ironically, the production of biofuels requires
massive amounts of oil. The practice of mono-cropping is an incredibly energy and chemical intensive
process.
The conclusion drawn from various studies of these practices is that the amount of energy required to
produce one unit of bio-fuel is greater than the amount of energy it generates. The amount of fertilizers
and pesticides required to treat the thousands of acres of U.S. fields these crops is massive, and untold
damage is done to the soil, ambient environment, and groundwater as a result of seepage from these toxic
chemicals. Most of these farmers have abandoned traditional farming methods such as rotation of crops
and replenishing soils of critical nutrients. The more this occurs, the dryer the soil and becomes erosion
pron. This renders the soil arid and worthless. The requirement to use yet more land becomes
problematic. As this cycle continues, destruction of more and more land is inevitable.

Therefore, the following points should be considered:

F Soil health is paramount to the survival of human and environmental health. Supporting farming
practices that recognize the importance of sustainable soil management is crucial!
F Every time your food dollars go toward conventional farming, you are supporting monocropping
and industrial farming practices that are harming the environment and human health.
F Genetic modification is viewed as a viable solution to the problems that originate with the
practices of monocropping (used in conventional farming). This is a vicious cycle that must be
broken.
F Every time your food dollars go toward sustainable and true organic farming, you are supporting
movements that are healthy for the environment and human health.
F Buy from your local farmer’s markets, local farms, and food merchants that use sustainable
practices in their farming methods
F Sustainable and organic foods do not use pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, genetically
modified organisms or monocropping…so the answer is simple. Support sustainable and organic
farming!
In realizing its efficiency goals, this can lead to an increased dependency on fossil fuels and reliance on
expensive machinery that cannot be produced locally and may need to be financed. This can make a
significant change in the economics of farming in regions that are accustomed to self-sufficiency in
agricultural production. In addition, political complications may ensue when these dependencies extend
across national boundaries, While economically a very efficient system, allowing for specialization in
equipment and crop production. Mmonocropping is also controversial, as it can damage the soil ecology
(including depletion or reduction in diversity of soil nutrients) and provide an unbuffered niche for
parasitic species, increasing crop vulnerability to opportunistic insects, plants, and microorganisms. The
result is a more fragile ecosystem with an increased dependency on pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
The concentrated presence of a single cultivar, genetically adapted with a single resistance strategy,
presents a situation in which an entire crop can be wiped out very quickly by a single opportunistic
species.
An example of this would be the potato famine of Ireland in 1845–1849, and according to Devlin Kuyek
is the main cause of the current food crisis with monoculture rice crops failing as the effects of climate
change become more acute.

23.2. Multiple cropping

Multiple cropping, simply defined, is the growing of two or more crops on the same field during the same
year. When the crops are grown one after another the term “sequential cropping” is applied. If the second
or later crops are the result of re growth of the first crop, then the term “ratoon cropping” is used. Sugar
cane (Saccharum spp.), Sorghum (Sorghum spp.), and even rice (Oryza sativa L.) can be ratoon cropped.
Crops that produce no re growth, as in the case of most annuals, cannot be ratoon cropped.
When two or more crops are grown simultaneously on the same plot of land the term “intercropping” is
appropriate. Such crops may be mixed planted, that is, the plants of different crops are intermingled; or
they may be sole (pure stand) planted in alternating rows, that is, the plants of each crop are grown in
separate rows or strips (wide rows). When one crop is inter planted with a second crop as the first crop
approaches maturity, the practice is termed “relay cropping.” All of these cropping practices come under
the general heading of multiple cropping.
All forms of multiple cropping have the potential to utilize the soil more efficiently, resulting in greater
production from a given unit of land. This is especially true in tropical or subtropical areas of the world
with wet and dry seasons. Where water for irrigation is available, exploitation of the abundant solar
energy in the dry season is possible. Double, triple, and even quadruple cropping has dramatically
increased food production in some countries–making them exporters instead of importers of food crops.
Less dramatic increases can also result from other forms of multiple cropping. Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris
L.), for example, can complete their life cycle in dry periods, if fertilized and relay planted in corn or
maize (Zea Mays L.) toward the end of the wet season.
The exploding world population continues to place a severe strain on existing land resources and their
ability to provide enough food. Any technology that can result in increased food production from present
land holdings has great potential for easing hunger around the world. Some researchers consider multiple
cropping the most important of today’s agricultural practices. Both high and low technology societies can
profit from greater use of multiple cropping.
Multiple cropping is not a new agricultural technique. Evidence of the practice has been found in Egypt
dating back to 300 B.C. The Maya Indians in Central America and the Incas in South America practiced
both sequential and intercropping.

23.2.1. Systems of multiple cropping

23. 2.1. 1. Sequential cropping
Sequential cropping, to be used most effectively, requires the use of fertilizers, high yielding plant
varieties, pest control, high planting rates, mechanization, and, where appropriate, irrigation. Sequential
cropping of plants with relatively short growing seasons offers better total annual use of land than does a
single crop system. It is particularly important to use the improved, early maturing, high yielding
varieties. Unlike traditional varieties, these improved types do not lodge, or fall over to the ground, when
heavily fertilized and also produce more grain per unit of fertilizer applied. Pest control, as well as
irrigation and fertilizers, allows them to yield more nearly at their full potential.
Mechanization, or the use of appropriate mechanical equipment, allows the farmer to perform promptly
all of the operations of soil preparation, planting, pest control, and harvesting, so that the next crop in
sequence is not delayed and portion of the growing season is not wasted. In the United States and other
more temperate regions of the world, where growing seasons are shorter, no tillage planting is widely
used. Early maturing varieties or crops are planted in the stubble of a previous crop without any soil
preparation through the use of specially designed equipment . This ensures a minimum of delay and full
use of the available growing season. Leaving the stubble in place also minimizes water and wind erosion
and affords protection for the newly emerging seedlings.
The use of day-neutral varieties (those who do not requiring a specific day length to flower and set seed)
allows farmer to grow crops at any time of the year, regardless of latitude, if growing conditions are
favorable. The availability of water for irrigation permits full use of the dry season.
Early maturing varieties may also suffer less damage from pests. As a general rule, the most serious crop
loss due to weeds occurs during the first third of the life cycle. An exception occurs where late maturing
varieties compete better with weeds.
Although crop rotation with different crops will generally result in better pest control, it may be feasible
to rotate different varieties of the same crop having different disease and insect resistance and better
ability to compete with weeds. Sometimes natural predators of pests (biological control) build up to more
effective levels when same crop follows same crop. The buildup of the pests with continuous cropping is
perhaps more likely to happen, however, and thus rotation with different crops is preferred.
23.2.1.2. Ratoon cropping

The principles involved in ratoon cropping, a form of sequential cropping, are different from other types
of multiple cropping because of such factors as the presence of a well developed root system, earlier
maturity, and the perennial nature of the plant. Although the term may be applied to perennial pasture
plants, it is considered more appropriately used with respect to field crops such as sugar cane, sorghum,
banana (Musa sapientum, M. caven-dishii), cotton, kodra millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum), pineapple
(Ananas comosa), and rice.
Advantages of ratoon cropping:
1. reduced cost of production through savings in land preparation and care for the plant;
2. reduced crop cycle: crop planted less often, so replanting cycle is longer;
3. better use of growing season;
4. higher yield per unit area in a given period of time;
5. less use of irrigation water and fertilizer than main (original) crop because of a shorter growing
period; and
6. Simple and effective way to provide windbreaks for vegetable production.
Drawbacks of Ratoon cropping
1. later crops have lower yields than the first crop
2. build up of insect pests
3. build up of harmful weeds
4. increased disease problems
5. greater cost per unit produced
6. where heavy equipment is used, the soil may become hard, causing poor drainage and lack of
oxygen for roots
7. loss of crop density (number of plants per unit of land) and
8. Growth of volunteer seedlings inferior to sown variety.
23.2.1.3. Intercropping -Its Definition, Importance ,Advantages and, Mechanism of Yield
Advantage in Intercropping System
Intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field. It also means the
growing of two or more crops on the same field with a definite row arrangement. The rationale behind
intercropping is that the different crops planted are unlikely to share the same insect pests and disease-
causing pathogens and to conserve the soil.
Intercropping – growing of more than one crop species or cultivar simultaneously in the same field
during a growing season. It is the practical application of ecological principles such as diversity, crop
interaction and other natural regulation mechanisms. Intercropping has many advantages, mainly related
to the complementary use of environmental resources by the component crops which results in increased
and more stable yields, better nutrient recycling in the soil, better control of weeds, pests and diseases and
an increased biodiversity. Cereals and legumes, both for forage and for grain, are the most common
intercrops .The main advantage of the legume–cereal intercrop is the input of nitrogen to the system by
the fixation of atmospheric N2 by the legume, which results in improved use of renewable nitrogen
sources.
Intercropping requires only 60-80 percent of the land to equal the production of monocropping systems.
Traditional farmers in many parts of the world-have practiced intercropping in various forms for many
centuries. This form of multiple cropping, which generally involves the growing of rain-fed crops in
mixtures, uses available resources and permits farmers to maintain low but often adequate and relatively
steady production.
Intercropping can take any of three forms–strip planting, row planting, or mixed planting. The form
chosen should be based on crops to be grown .Crop factors such; as ease of planting, weeding, and
harvesting and Yield etc, must be considered. Intercropping is particularly suited to those situations
where labor is abundant and land is not. To be economically successful, the sum of the competition of
the interplanted species should be less than their sole crops. Crops of different maturities have varying
peak requirements for water, fertilizer, light, and space. Thus, there may be less competition between
different crops than there is in a sole planting of identical plants. Moreover, disease and insect infestation
of intercropped plants tends to be less. For example, virus diseases may spread more easily through
adjacent plants than to those separated by unlike, and frequently non-susceptible, neighboring plants.
Insects that spread diseases also thwarted or at least slowed. Insects tend to be less attracted to plants that
are intermingled with other species than to those in solid stands of the same species. Some common
combinations include; maize-bean, maize-soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) , maize-rice, maize-sorghum,
sorghum-millet, sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) in sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.), and
cotton (Gossypium sp.) with peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.). The net result of such combinations can
vary widely from productive to unproductive compared to sole planting of the same crops. Factors such
as fertilization schedule, seeding rate and spacing, selection of variety and type of plant, e.g., dwarf
versus normal (maize), bush versus pole (bean), as well as many other cultural factors can markedly
influence results. <see figure>.

Inter planting of some crop species; however, may be harmful because of allelopathic effects.
Allelopathy is defined as “any direct or indirect harmful effect that one plant has on another
through the production of chemical compounds that escape into the environment. The harmful
compound may take varied forms such as volatile chemicals produced by roots, or leached from leaves.
Dead or decaying plant tissues may also be a source of allelopathic substances. Note that the nitrogen
released from legumes is not a form of allelopathy.

a. Importance of intercropping system:

The demand for food is increasing day by day due to population pressure and practically there is no scope
of bringing new area under cultivation. Therefore it is become necessary to increase the production of
food grain by adopting intensive cropping system or by increasing the production per unit area.
Intercropping is an agronomic refinement of the old practice of crop mixtures that in this new system the
components, usually two are sown in separate rows, their population ratios are known and can be
harvested singly and produce recorded separately. Broadly, intercropping may be defined as the growing
of two or more crop species simultaneously on the same piece of land but the crop components often
have different growth periods.
Scientific interest in intercropping has developed recently as means of making full use of the entire
growing season and optimizing the utilization of environmental resources and thus increasing the total
crop production per unit area of land.
Generally, the farmers grow the food grain crops as the main crop and pulses or oilseed as minor crops in
the mixture. The food grain crop like sorghum and pearl millet being C4 plants posses an inherent higher
yield potential than legume or pulses. But the present market rates of pulses are two to four times higher
than the most of the cereals crop. So if a farmer goes with an intercropping practice, he can get additional
income from his land and he can boost his family income.
Our soil health is deteriorated day by day due to intensive agriculture. Food production also got a static
position. So to improve the soil health and to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizer, farmer can move
toward intercropping practice by adopting this technology. Pulses have the capacity to fix atmospheric
nitrogen by their symbiotic relationship and should be considered in intercropping.
There is a vast challenge to choose suitable intercrop to get maximum benefit so that farmers can build up
their family economically and socially.Thus, it is essential to go for better research and new findings for
providing national food security, increasing family income, better environment for the next crop so that
they can be grown successfully.
Types of intercropping practices:
1. Strip Intercropping-Growing two or more crops in strips, wide enough to permit independent
cultivation, but narrow enough for the crops to interact.
2. Row Intercropping-Growing two or more crops in well defined row.
3. Mixed Intercropping-Growing two or more crops together in no distinct row arrangement.
4. Relay Intercropping-Planting a second crop into a standing crop at a time when the standing
crop is at its reproductive stage but before harvesting

Relay intercropping is a common practice in wet-dry climates where the wet season is not sufficiently
long for two full season crops. Generally, corn is the wet season crop, with beans interplanted as the corn
approaches maturity. With relay planting, greater crop density and protection against wind and water
erosion is achieved. Since the first crop has reached maturity, its demands on soil moisture and fertility is
minimal as natural aging and deterioration of leaves occur. The relay inter planted seedling crop likewise
places small but increasing demands on the soil. As the first crop gradually fades out of the picture and
finally removed entirely through harvest, the sequential crop continues to advance and the transition is
completed.

23.2. 1.4. Alley Cropping

Alley cropping is broadly defined as the planting of two or more sets of single or multiple rows of trees
or shrubs at wide spacing, creating alleyways within which agricultural, horticultural, or forage crops are
cultivated. The trees may include valuable hardwood species, such as nut trees, or trees desirable for
wood products. This approaches sometimes called intercropping and multi cropping. Currently most of
the emphasis and research focuses on pecan and black walnut alley cropping or intercropping
applications. However, there are numerous other potential trees, shrubs, and crop combinations.
Benefits of Alley Cropping
F Diversify farm enterprise
F Reduce erosion
F Improve water quality
F Protect crops
F Enhance wildlife and Improve aesthetics Values

Diversifying farm products and supplementing income:

Alley cropping diversifies farm enterprises by providing short-term cash flow from annual crops while
also providing medium to long-term products from the trees. Timber and non-timber products may
contribute to income generation from the farm. In addition to the potential for producing nuts, berries,
and fruits, well-managed timber can provide a long term investment.
a. Reducing soil erosion from wind and water:

Soils with a high erodibility index (>8 ) are highly susceptible to damage and are difficult to protect when
used as crop land. The soil erodibility index provides a numerical expression of the potential for a soil to
erode considering the physical and chemical properties of the soil and the climatic conditions where it is
located. The higher the index, the greater the investment needed to maintain the sustainability of the soil
resource base if intensively cropped. Alley cropping protects fragile soils through a network of roots
produced by the trees and supplemental ground-cover resulting from fallen leave sand the companion
crop. Rows of trees, shrubs, and/or grasses planted on the contour of a slope will also serve to reduce soil
movement down the slope.

Improves water quality

The interception of rainfall by the tree canopy and increased infiltration due to tree and herbaceous roots
protect the soil; water quality is improved due to interception of sediment by herbaceous cover in tree
rows and interception, sequestration, and decomposition of agricultural chemicals by tree and herbaceous
root environment.
Trees and shrubs improve crop production by slowing wind speed and reducing wind erosion, modifying
the crop microclimate with similar effects to that of windbreaks (see section #6 on windbreaks). Alley
cropping can reduce crop evapotranspiration by 15-30 percent and increase water content in the tillage
layer by 5-15 percent. Deep tree roots transport soil nutrients to leaves. Leaves contribute organic matter
to soil and release nutrients as they decompose.

c. Protecting crops:

Alley cropping protects crops from insect pests by reducing crop visibility, diluting pest hosts due to
plant diversity, interfering with pest movement, and creating environments less favorable to pests and
more favorable to beneficial insects.

e. Enhancing wildlife habitat and aesthetics values

Linear plantings of trees and/or shrubs in an agricultural landscape increases the habitat diversity for
wildlife, both through increased amount of edge and/or as a result of the increased diversity(vertical and
horizontal) of vegetative types. Increased vertical complexity has been correlated with increased bird
numbers. These areas can also serve as protective corridors for wildlife movement and provide a food
source.
Limitations to Alley Cropping:

Alley cropping, as with other forms of multi-cropping, requires more intensive technical management
skill and marketing knowledge. The following limitations should be considered: Requires a more
intensive management system including specialized equipment for tree management and additional
managerial skills and training to manage multiple crops on a given site. Removes land from annual crop
production and may not provide a financial return from the trees for several years. Require smartening
infrastructure for the tree products that may not be present in the local area. Trees may be an obstacle to
crop cultivation if not carefully planned and designed. Trees compete with companion crops for sun light,
moisture and nutrients. Companion crops may compete with trees for moisture and nutrients. Herbicide
drift from crops may damage trees.

Alley Cropping Functions

There are numerous mechanisms in which alley cropping impacts the landscapes to which it is applied,
including water management, nutrient cycling, soil quality, microclimate modification and pest
management. Alley cropping impacts water management by altering the hydrologic cycle through
increased water infiltration is disruption of overland flow by the tree/grass strip. Water cycled through the
system is more thoroughly filtered and any excess is gradually released. Nutrient cycling and soil quality
are impacted as deeply rooted trees exploit lower soil horizons and cycle the nutrients to the surface
through litter fall. Nitrogen is added to the nutrient pool if a nitrogen-fixing tree or shrub is used.
Reduced soil erosion by wind and water help maintain soil quality. Additional moisture is added to the
site through interception of rainfall by the tree canopy. Microclimate is modified due to reductions in
wind velocity, which reduces air temperatures and evapotranspiration of intercropped plants and soil.
Pest management can be strengthened through the structural diversity in the landscape.

A. Advantage of intercropping and its importance

1. Biodiversity and stability: Intercropping is a way to increase the biodiversity of the farming
system. More diversity in the farming system means more stability, resulting in risk spreading and
reduced pest and disease incidence.
2. Increased yield: When two or more crops with different rooting system, a different pattern of
 water and nutrient demand, and a different above ground habit are planted together. Water,
nutrient and sunlight are used more efficiently. Therefore the combined yields of two crops grown
as intercrops can be higher than the yield of the same crop grown as pure stand.
3. Maintenance of soil fertility: An important reason for intercropping is the improvement and
maintenance of soil fertility. This is reached when a cereal crop (such as maize or sorghum) or a
tuber crop (like cassava) is grown in association with pulses (bean, peas etc.). Deep rooted pulses
like pigeon pea, also take up nutrients from deeper soil layer, there by recycle nutrients leased
from the surface. Legumes also grow well in low phosphate. After the intercrop is harvested,
decaying roots and fallen leaves provide nitrogen and other nutrient for the next crop.
4. Fodder and manure: The crop residue of the pulses crop can also be used as fodder, by cutting
and carrying them to the animal, or by letting the animals graze the residues in the field. The
nutrients in the crop residue then can be recycled when manure is used to fertilize the crops.
Animal manure improves soil fertility through supply of nutrients and soil structure, as it
increases the amount of humus in the soil. It should be sprayed evenly over the field, whether the
manure is left on the field during grazing or collected from the stable and applied later.
5. Soil cover: Pulses in an intercropping system do not only provide only a source of nitrogen and
other nutrients to the associated crop but, also increase the amount of humus in the soil, due to
decaying crop remains. This result in improved soil structure, reducing the need for soil tillage.
Water losses, soil erosion and leaching of nutrients are also reduced in intercropping system, due
to improved soil structure and better soil cover, especially when creeping pulses crops are used.
With a good soil cover, the impact of rain drops on disruption of the soil is reduced. In relay
intercropping, the pulse crop is planted some time after the main crop and continues growing after
the harvest of main crop. This result in more efficient use of soil water and prevent leaching and
erosion, as the soil is still covered after the harvest of main crop.
6. Risk spreading and food security: When two or more crops are grown on the same field, the
risk for crop failure is spread over the different crop as the different crops have different periods
and patterns of growth, and are affected by different diseases. If one of the crops fail (due to
drought, pest or diseases), there still a harvest from other crops. This increases food security. In
good year the yield of two crops grown on the same field as an intercrop is often higher than the
yield of the same crop grown separately.
7. Weed control: In an intercropping system weeds are more easily controlled. For example in
 maize bean intercrop, the bean covers the soil, preventing weeds to grow.
8. Microclimate: When the intercrop provides a good soil cover, soil temperature will stay
relatively low. This prevents burning of the organic matter in the soil and loss of nutrients. It also
provides a microclimate that can be favourable for the associated crop.
9. Physical support: In a maize bean intercrop, climbing beans can use the maize stacks for
support.
10. Pest and diseases control: Pest and diseases are less abundant in intercropping system. There are
different ways to explain it. If the pest or disease has a specific host, it does not spread as easily
through an intercrop as it does in a mono crop. Insect or other pest can also be mislead by the
canopy of an intercrop and not recognize the specific crop they use as host. Substance that other
crops produce may drive insects away from the main crop or natural enemies of insects may be
attracted by one of the crops in the intercrop.
Overall advantages of intercropping.
1 Provides increased protection against erosion;
2 Insures against crop failure;
3 Spreads labour and harvesting more evenly during the growing season and helps minimize
storage problems;
4 Helps allocate space for crops required in small quantities, and facilitates production of many
commodities in a limited area;
5 Results in efficient use of resources by plants of different heights, rooting systems, and
nutrient requirements;
6 Where legumes are grown with grasses (or other non-legumes), grasses may benefit from the
nitrogen fixed by the legume companion crop; and
7 Inhibits the spread of diseases and pests since not all crops involved are susceptible to the
same extent to the same problems.
Disadvantages of Intercropping:
1 Mechanized planting and harvesting are difficult;
2 It is more difficult to apply needed fertilizers and other chemicals as in sole cropping; and
3 Experimentation with intercropping is more complex and difficult to manage than with sole
cropping. Indices in Cropping System
A. Land Equivalent Ratio: It denotes relative land area under sole crop required to produce the same
yield as obtained under a mixed or an intercropping system at the same level of management. It is the
ratio of land required by pure crop to produce the same yield as intercrop.
LER = Ya/Sa + Yb/Sb
Ya, Yb is the yield of a and b crop grown as intercrop, Sa, Sb is the yield of a and b crop grown as
sole crop, LER = Yield of intercrop over yield of pure crop.

B. Relative Crowding Coefficient (RCC): It is used in replacement series of intercropping .It indicates
whether a crop, when grown in mixed population, has produced more or less yield than expected.
Kab= Yab/Yaa_-Yab X Zba/Zab Where, Kab=RCC of crop a intercropped with crop b, Yab=Yield
per unit area of crop a intercropped with crop b, Yaa= Yield per unit of sole crop a Zab=Proportion
of intercropped area initially allocated to crop, a Zba=Proportion of intercropped area initially
allocated to crop, b RCC > 1 means yield advantage RCC = 1 no difference RCC < 1 yield
disadvantage
C. Aggressivity: It is the mixture of how much the relative yield increase in component a is greater than
that for b. Aab = Yab / (Yaa x Zab) -Yba/( Ybb x Zba) Aab = Zero mean component crops are equally
competitive, Aab = negative means dominated, Aab = Bigger value either positive or negative means
bigger difference in competitive abilities.
D. Competition Index: It is measure to find out the yield of various crops when grown together as well
as separately. It represents the yield per plant of different crops in mixture and their respective pure
stand on unit area basis.
CI= (Yaa-Yab) X (Ybb-Yba) / Yaa x Ybb Yab-mixture yield of a crop grown with b Yba-mixture
yield of b crop grown with a Yaa-yield in pure stand of crop a Ybb-yield in pure stand of crop b
E. Competition coefficient: Ratio of the RCC of any given spp. In the mixture

CC = RCC of a given spp. /Total RCC of all crops in mixture

F. Rotational Intensity: This is calculated by counting the number of crops grown in a rotation and is
multiplied by 100 and then divided by the duration of rotation.
.

G. Cropping intensity:

Cropping intensity = Total cropped area over net cultivated area x 100 or area under Summer +winter +
other season over area under actual cultivation x 100.
24. Concepts of Sustainability in Farming System
Intensive-type of farming, Known by its use of high-input systems that offer an increased yield, is known
as conventional agriculture. This term is broadly used in the international literature to describe intensive
farming.
Farming systems are expected to go under pressure over the next half-century in order to meet society
demands. The issue is now to find ways to steer the emergence of ecologically sustainable farming
systems, able to ensure sufficient output per capita for an expected eight (8) billion-world population.
Over the last two decades, attention in industrialized countries has focused on reducing pollution by
fertilizers and synthetic pesticides in conventional agriculture.
The concern of society for the environmental problems caused by conventional farming, in combination
with the increased demand for achieving sustainability in the agricultural sector and for safe, high-quality
foodstuffs, has led to the emergence of alternative farming systems in recent years. Especially, the
increasing consumers’ concern about food safety and environmental pollution escalated the value of
Sustainable Farming Systems (SFS), such as Organic and Integrated Farming Systems or Integrated Crop
Management (ICM).
Sustainability can be thought as ability of an attribute to maintain itself, i.e. not to decline with the
passage of time, given that in a dynamic context, an unsustainable attribute or variable may decline in
various ways under the effects of endogenous or exogenous factors . Agricultural sustainability is
considered as branch of long lasting development applied to agriculture. Sustainable development itself
is “a development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).
This definition makes the link with the concept of sustainable agricultural development that emphasizes
on the dynamics of agricultural systems both at farm and regional levels .
24.1. Definitions and types of Farming System
A farm is a place where agricultural activities occur to produce food, fuel, and/or fiber,etc from plants
and/or animals. Each individual farm can be thought of as a system in its own, a modified ecological
system that includes people, crops and livestock within a broader environmental, social and economic

context. It is essential to take a systems perspective when examining farming and sustainability. This
allows us to understand the reasons behind unsustainable practices and to develop long-term solutions to
problems.
A systems perspective involves looking at the biophysical dimensions of farming (such as nutrient and
water cycles) as well as socio-economic aspects (for example, social values and institutional structures).
Farms can be analyzed as systems from various points of view, depending on the scale of analysis.

The system is envisioned in its broadest sense, from the individual farm, to the local ecosystem, and to
communities affected by this farming system both locally and globally. An emphasis on the system
allows a larger and more thorough view of the consequences of farming practices on both human
communities and the environment. A systems approach gives us the tools to explore the interconnections
between farming and other aspects of our environment.
Farming systems, in the context of this discussion, range from individual farms through to the broader
social and economic structures and institutions linked to farming. Although the major focus of this
discussion is on the farming end of the food chain, it is also important to consider the place of farms in
broader food systems that include many other organizations and people, such as producer boards, retailers
and consumers of food.
Enterprises in farming systems include crops, dairying, poultry, fishery, sericulture, piggery, apiary tree
crops etc. a combination of one or more enterprises with cropping when carefully chosen, planned and
executed, gives greater dividends than a single enterprise, especially for small and marginal farmers.
Farm as a unit is to be considered and planned for effective integration of the enterprises to be combined
with crop production activity, such that the end-products and wastes of one enterprise are utilized
effectively as inputs in other enterprise. For example the wastes of dairying viz., dung, urine, refuse etc
are used in preparation of FYM or compost which serves as an input in cropping system. Likewise, the
straw obtained from crops (maize, rice, sorghum etc) is used as a fodder for dairy cattle. Further, in
sericulture the leaves of mulberry crop as a feeding material for silkworms, grain from maize crop are
used as a feed in poultry etc.
24. 1.1.Intensive farming systems
Farming today is becoming more intensive. Hence 'intensive' refers to the increasing use of inputs (e.g.
fertilizer, energy, water for irrigation, knowledge or capital) into farming systems to produce more food

from the same area of land. Intensive farming is usually characterized by the repeated cultivation
and/overgrazing of land and the addition of a large number of inputs per hectare to maintain or increase
production every year.
Over the last century, especially since the 1940s, there has been a general worldwide trend to increase
food production through the addition of external human-made inputs into farming systems. These include
petroleum-based fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and animal feedstuffs and machinery. These inputs have
often taken the place of natural processes or resources (e.g. using synthetic fertilizers instead of legumes
to 'fix' nitrogen into the soil). Although food production has increased remarkably through the use of
these inputs, major concerns have been raised about the long-term environmental, social and economic
costs of these farming methods.
Prominent issues have included the erosion of topsoil, loss of soil fertility, water pollution, loss of
biodiversity and dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels. Worldwide, there have also been growing
concerns about the adverse impacts of intensive farming systems on food safety, human health, the

viability of small family farms and the quality of life in rural communities. It is important to note that
'more intensive' is a relative phrase, in the sense that something is increasing in relation to what it was.
Intensification occurs along a continuum from relatively low external inputs (such as pastoral farming
systems that do not use synthetic fertilizers) to those that rely on very high external inputs (such as
factory farming).

Figure 1: Representation of factors affecting the state of the farming system and of fluxes of products and
emissions. Indicators of environmental impact may concern farmer production practices (means-based
indicators), the state of the farming system or emissions to the environment (effect-based indicators).

24.2. Definition and current concept of Farming system sustainability

Sustainable farming system refers to a range of strategies for addressing many problems that affect the
farming system. Such problems include loss of soil productivity from excessive soil erosion and
associated plant nutrient losses, surface and ground water pollution from pesticides, fertilizers and
sediments, impending shortages of non- renewable resources, and low farm income from depressed
commodity prices and high production costs. Furthermore, “Sustainable” implies a time dimension and
the capacity of a farming system to endure indefinitely. It also implies successful management of
resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the Natural
resource-base and avoiding environmental degradation.
There is no single agreed upon definition of sustainable agriculture, but most definitions incorporate three
main elements; environmental sustainability, social acceptability and economic viability. The definition
of sustainable agriculture adopted by New Zealand's is the use of farming practices which maintain or
improve the natural resource base of agriculture, and any parts of the environment influenced by
agriculture. Sustainability also requires that agriculture is profitable; that the quality and safety of the
food, fiber,etc. and other agricultural products are maintained; and that people and communities are able
to provide for their social and cultural well-being.
A sustainable Agriculture is a system of agriculture that is committed to maintain and preserve the
agriculture base of soil, water, and atmosphere ensuring future generations the capacity to feed
themselves with an adequate supply of safe and wholesome food’.
A Sustainable Agriculture system is one that can indefinitely meet demands for food and fibre at socially,
economically and environmentally acceptable cost’.
A broad and commonly accepted definition of sustainable Agriculture can be put as follows:
Sustainable Agriculture refers to an agricultural production and distribution system that:
 Achieves the integration of natural biological cycles and controls
 Protects and renews soil fertility and the natural resource base
 Reduces the use of non-renewable resources and purchased (external or off-farm) production
inputs
 Optimizes the management and use of on-farm inputs
 Provides an adequate and dependable farm income
 Promotes opportunity in family farming and farm communities, and
 Minimizes adverse impacts on health, safety, wildlife, water quality and the environment

24.3. Current concept of sustainable Farming System

The ultimate goal or the ends of sustainable agriculture is to develop farming systems that are productive
and profitable, conserve the natural resource base, protect the environment, and enhance health and
safety, and to do so over the long-term. The means of achieving this is low input methods and skilled
management, which seek to optimize the management and use of internal production inputs (i.e., on-farm
resources) in ways that provide acceptable levels of sustainable crop yields and livestock production and
result in economically profitable returns. This approach emphasizes such cultural and management
practices as crop rotations, recycling of animal manures, and conservation tillage to control soil erosion
and nutrient losses and to maintain or enhance soil productivity.
Low-input farming systems seek to minimize the use of external production inputs (i.e., off-farm
resources), such as purchased fertilizers and pesticides, wherever and whenever feasible and practicable:
to lower production costs: to avoid pollution of surface and groundwater: to reduce pesticide residues in
food: to reduce a farmer’s overall risk; and to increase both short-term and long-term farm profitability.
Another reason for the focus on low- input farming systems is that most high input systems, sooner or
later, would probably fail because they are not either economically or environmentally sustainable over
the long-term.
A Current concept of sustainable Agriculture in the United States showing the ends and the means of
achieving them through low- input methods and skilled management is shown in Fig.1.

Figure 2: A current concept of sustainable Agriculture in The United States

There has been considerable debate, over the last few decades in particular, about how farming can be
conducted in ways that maintain natural capital. 'Sustainable agriculture' is the most commonly used
term to bring ideas and concepts from these debates together.
The dialogue on the sustainability of farming has also focused on social and economic concerns such as
the viability of small family farms, the quality of life in rural communities, animal welfare issues, and
poverty and food shortages in developing countries.
 24.4. Impact of farming system on the natural resource bases
A farm is a modified ecosystem that exists within a broader environmental, social and economic context.
Even if farming is undertaken based on introduced species, it still relies on the services provided by
natural capital to sustain production. Farming activities can have an impact on natural capital in many
ways.
Agricultural activities can generate a range of environmental benefits, which include aesthetic value,

recreation, water accumulation and supply, nutrient recycling and fixation, soil formation, wildlife

protection and flood control, and carbon sequestration by trees and soil. However, major changes in

farming practices in the past forty years have brought new pressures to bear on natural resources. This

pressure includes the soil degradation due to various causes.

Figure 3: diagrammatic representation of causes of soil degradation

24.4.1. Some potential negative effects of farming

Declining soil fertility and integrity: - e.g. through erosion of soil or the loss of organic matter
Pollution of waterways and groundwater: - e.g. impacts on water quality from nutrient losses
Water scarcity: - e.g. through competition with other water users by extracting excessive amounts of
water for irrigation.
Reduced biodiversity: - e.g. becoming reliant on a small number of crop and livestock breeds through
the development of monocultures that are more vulnerable to pests and diseases
Climate change: - e.g. contributing to the loss of vegetation (important 'carbon sinks') or increases in
greenhouse gas emissions.
These impacts may occur across different scales of space and time. For example, nutrient runoff from one
farm may impact on water quality and all other water users downstream, while the cumulative impacts of
groundwater pollution from farming practices on lakes and waterways may only become slowly evident
over time.
In industrialized countries application of excess nutrients such as the most important macro nutrient P is a
common phenomenon, it is applied to meet the requirements of the crops, but as it is applied in to the soil
it is converted to a non labile form by forming insoluble compounds with Al, Fe, and Ca. In the next year
also application of P is imminent as part of the P is converted to unavailable form, in this way through
years this will accumulate to a large extent; which finally cause harm to the environment or water bodies.
Therefore this excess accumulation of P will cause damage to the environment in the process known as
Eutriphication through run off. Even if Nitrogen and Carbon are contributors to growth of biota in fresh
water, but Eutrophication of most fresh water around the world is accelerated by P inputs. This is one
example of the impact of intensification on the environment through erosion and fresh water pollutions.
The Phosphorus reaching the fresh water will promote the growth of algae’s and other biota which
produces toxic substances that could harm lives in the water and animals drinking the water. The cause of
this toxic condition or eutrophication is an accumulation of P beyond tolerable limit, the critical limit of
accumulation that occurs with increasing application of P fertilizer to soils.
It is important to emphasize that there are many different ways in which farming systems can be designed
to produce more food. For example, it is possible to make more use of human knowledge to increase food
production while using less material and energy inputs. Therefore, it is a peculiar way of farming which
needs high consideration for sustainability of crop production.
24.4.2. Elements of sustainability in Farming System
There are many ways to improve the sustainability of a given farming system, and these vary from region
to region. However, there are some common sets of practices among farmers trying to take a more
sustainable approach, in part through greater use of on-farm or local resources each contributing in some
way to long-term profitability, environmental stewardship and rural quality of life.
A) Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM)
The integrated soil fertility management refers to a set of practices of soil fertility management that
necessarily include the use of fertilizer, organic inputs, and improved germplasm combined with the
knowledge on how to adapt these practices to local conditions, aiming at maximizing agronomic use
efficiency of the applied nutrients and improving crop productivity. The practices of Soil fertility
management such as integrated soil fertility management can lead to sustainable farming system in such
as way that by increasing the yield of crop reversing the soil fertility that is related to environmental
safety, and health of humans. The application of manure at different rates can restore soil fertility and
increase yield accordingly. Repetition of such practices or this type of farming system over years ensure
the sustainability of the farming systems
In developed countries such as in Denmark research studies to identify sustainable way of cropping
system shows that, long-term organic rotation improved the sustainability of farming system by
increasing carbon input in to the soil and increasing the yield of cereal crops. In this research the
combination of crop rotation together with conventional system (fertilizer application), gave the highest
grain yield of cereal crops.
The research was conducted with the objective of reducing leaching of Nitrogen through legume crop
rotation and reduction of the conventional way of fertilizer application to reduce environmental
degradation. The experiment was designed to suit crop rotation and treatments included 1) proportion of
nitrogen fixing crops in crop rotation. 2) catch crop as (+CC) with and (-CC) without catch crop, 3) (+M)
with and (-M) without animal manure. The two crop rotations (O2 and O4) with different proportions of
cereal to legume are tested. In 2005 (C4) the design is changed to include conventional system table 1
illustrates the design of the crop rotation.
As described above the sustainable system is the one with combination of systems, gives the highest
grain yield and the one which reduce leaching of Nitrogen to the minimum, and hence the best cropping
system at this point can be manure application without or with catch crop and inclusion of the
conventional system..
B) Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
IPM is an ecologically based approach to pest control, utilizing knowledge of pest/crop relationships,
establishment of acceptable economic thresholds for pest populations, and constant field monitoring for
potential problems. This approach to agriculture stresses the coordinated integration of chemical, cultural,
and biological control practices in particular ecological and socio-productive settings. Management
techniques include "the use of resistant varieties; crop rotation; cultural practices; optimal use of
biological control organisms; certified seed; protective seed treatments; disease-free transplants or root
stock; timeliness of crop cultivation; improved timing of pesticide applications; removal of infested plant
material".
The difficulty in defining these schools of alternative agricultural thought is well illustrated by the case of
IPM. Some argue that the original meaning of IPM, focusing on ecosystems-based strategies, has been
distorted. Dahlberg (1991) states that IPM had “great potential to restructure important parts of
agriculture, but the combined power of the dominant production paradigm and the resistance of the
chemical industry has largely transformed integrated pest management into integrated pesticide
management.”
C) Low Input Agriculture
These farming systems "seek to optimize the management and use of internal production inputs (i.e. on
farm resources). and to minimize the use of external production inputs, such as purchased fertilizer and
pesticides, wherever and whenever feasible and practical, to lower production costs, to avoid pollution of
surface and ground water, to reduce pesticide residues in food, to reduce a farmers overall risk, and to
increase both short- and long-term farm profitability.
The approach of LEISA
Low Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) & Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA)
LISA was the United States Department of Agricultural research and education grants programme,
organized and directed by the Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) and Extension Service.
Some European countries.
Reijntjes et al. define LEISA as “agriculture which makes optimal use of locally available natural and
human resources (such as soil, water, vegetation, local plants and animals, and human labor, knowledge
and skills) and which is economically feasible, ecologically sound, culturally adapted and socially just.
The use of external inputs is not excluded but is seen as complementary to the use of local resources and
has to meet the above mentioned criteria”.
Schaller (1993) notes that adoption of the term “low input” had an effect rather different from that
originally intended. The term was chosen to try to correct the view held by some agricultural groups that
sustainable agriculture was just another name for chemical-free or organic farming.
However, Schaller suggests that the impact was, for some, to encourage the notion that sustainable
agriculture implied a general lowering of all inputs currently used, and a return to “hoes, hard labor,
lower yields, and lower farm income.” This one example gives some indication of the care that has to be
taken when discussing the terminology of “sustainable agriculture.”

D) Agro ecology
Is a farming approach that heavily incorporates ecological concepts into the design and management of
agro systems. Agro ecology was proposed as a new scientific discipline that defines, classifies and
studies agricultural systems from an ecological and socio-economic perspective. This approach seeks an
understanding of how traditional and indigenous agricultural systems have adapted socially,
economically and technologically, to local conditions.
According to Hecht (1987), agro-ecology is loosely defined that “ which incorporates ideas about a more
environmentally and socially sensitive approach to agriculture, one that focuses not only on production,
but also on the ecological sustainability of the productive system”.
E) Organic Farming
Organic farming is defined in different ways.
Scofield (1986) - Stresses that organic farming does not simply refer to the use of living materials, but
emphasizes the concept of ‘wholeness’, implying the “systematic connection or co-ordination of parts in
one whole.”
Henning (1991) - organic agriculture “is designed to work with natural processes to conserve resources,
encourage self-regulation through diversity, minimize waste and environmental impact, whilst preserving
farm profitability.”
Mannion (1995) defined it as -a holistic view of agriculture that aims to reflect the profound
interrelationship that exists between farm biota, its production and the overall environment.
Due to the growing importance of this method of agricultural production the UK, mainland
Europe and the USA, have given more stress to it and its relationship to sustainable agriculture,
In Ethiopia, compost application can be the starting point for sustainability of organic system.
F) Soil conservation
Many soil conservation methods, including contour cultivates contour bending, graded bunding,
vegetative barriers, strip cropping cover cropping, reduced tillage, etc. help prevent loss of soil due to
wind and water erosion.
.
 G) Crop diversity
Growing a greater variety of crops on a farm can help reduce risks from extremes in weather, market
conditions or crop pests. Increased diversity crops and other plants, such as trees and shrubs, also can
contribute to soil conservation, wildlife habitat and increased populations of beneficial insects
H) Cover crops
Growing plant such as sun hemp, horse gram, pillipesara in the off season after harvesting a grain or
vegetable crop can provide several benefits, including weed suppression, erosion control, and improved
soil nutrients and soil quality.
I) Rotational grazing: -
New management- intensive grazing systems that take animals out of barn into the pasture to provide
high-quality forage and reduced feed cost.
J) Water quality & water conservation: -
Water conservation and protection have important part of Agricultural stewardship. Many practices have
been developed to conserve water and its quality.
Deep ploughing, mulching, micro irrigation techniques etc.., protect quality of drinking and surface
water.
K) Agro forestry
Trees and other woody perennials are often underutilized and can cover a range of practices Viz.,
agrisilvicuture, silivipastoral, agri-silvi-agri-horticulture, horti/silvipastoral, alley cropping, tree farming,
lay farm that help conserve, soil and water.
L) Marketing
Farmers across the country are finding that improved marketing is one way to enhance profitability,
direct marketing of agricultural product from farmers to consumers is becoming much more common and
important, It includes; bazaar, roadside stands etc.
24.4.3. The way towards Sustainability
One of the challenges in the quest for more sustainable agriculture is to make better use of internal
resources, while being less dependent on external inputs. There has been a general trend over the last
century to increase food production through the addition of external human-made inputs into farming
systems. These external inputs have often taken the place of free services provided by natural capital.
Making better use of internal resources does not mean the rejection of 'conventional' farming practices: -
it merely highlights the importance of being discerning. At the level of an individual farm it may actually
be more profitable to use fewer external inputs, even if overall production is lower, because external
inputs are often very expensive.
Sustainability can be thought of as an ethic or a general approach to farming; something to strive toward
to promote the continuing health of the land and people. The actual practice of sustainable agriculture
needs to be tailored to the unique biophysical features (e.g. different climates and soil types) and the
socio-economic characteristics and cultures of different communities. There is no single 'right' way to
practice more sustainable agriculture.
Many farmers have found ways to reduce environmental damage, improve production, and increase

profitability. How the farmers do this depends tremendously on where they live, what they produce, and

where they sell the product. At a moment, farmers begun to invent, adapt, and adopt a wide range of

approaches of 'better management practices. Such practices involve maintaining and building; of soils,
the natural ecosystem functions on farms, working with nature but not against it in producing crops,
reducing total input use and using inputs more efficiently, and reducing waste or creating marketable by-

products from materials that were previously considered waste.

It is essential to avoid making trade-offs between environmental and economic objectives if short-term
economic benefits later give rise to long-term damage to natural capital and associated costs to society. It
is important to redesign social and economic systems based on evidences for their encouragement. In
contrast, 'weak sustainability' is characterized by attempts to reconcile competing environmental, social,
and economic objectives without questioning the prevailing socio-economic systems.

24.5. Methods of applications of Sustainable Farming System

A sustainable Agriculture, therefore, is any system of food or fiber production that systematically pursues
the following goals:
 A more thorough incorporation of natural processes such as nutrient cycling nitrogen fixation and
pest-predator relationships into agricultural production processes:
 A reduction in the use of those off-farm, external and non-renewable inputs with the greatest
potential to damage the environment or harm the health of farmers and consumers, and more
targeted use of the remaining inputs used with a view to minimizing variable costs:
 The full participation of farmers and rural people in all processes of problem analysis and
technology development, adoption and extension.
  A more equitable access to predictive resources and opportunities, and progress towards more
socially just forms of Agriculture.
 A greater productive use of the biological and genetic potential of plant and animal species:
 A greater productive use of local knowledge and practices, including innovation in approaches
not yet fully understood by scientists or widely adopted by farmers:
 An increase in self-reliance among farmers and rural people
 An improvement in the match between cropping patterns and the productive potential and
environmental constraints of climate and landscape to ensure long-term sustainability of current
production levels: and
 Profitable and efficient production with an emphasis on integrated form of management: and the
conservation of soil, water, energy and biological resources.
24.5. Criteria for Environmental Sustainability
The central focus on the environmental sustainability of farming is in maintaining and enhancing natural
capital and the services it provides.
a. Environmental sustainability: - as defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), has four specific criteria. These can easily be applied to thinking about the
sustainability of farming systems, as listed below:
b. Regeneration: - using renewable resources efficiently and not permitting their use to exceed their
long-term rates of natural regeneration (e.g. taking water from an aquifer at a rate that does not
exceed its recharge rate)
c. Substitutability: - using non-renewable resources efficiently and limiting their use to levels that
can be offset by substitution by renewable resources or other forms of capital (e.g. using fossil-
fuel based fertilizers efficiently and developing human capital to find alternative ways of
maintaining soil nutrients).
d. Assimilation: - not allowing releases of hazardous or polluting substances to the environment to
exceed the environment's assimilative capacity (e.g. preventing excess nutrients entering
waterways)
e. Avoiding irreversibility: - avoiding irreversible impacts of human activities on ecosystems (e.g.

ensuring that farming does not contribute to the extinction of a plant or animal species).
Environmental sustainability is also essential for sustainable development: - it is an unending quest to
improve the quality of people's lives and surroundings and to prosper without destroying the life support
systems that current and future generation of people depend on. It is important to recognize that there are
ecological limits that ultimately constrain resource use and the ability of the environment to absorb the
impacts of human activities.

24.7. Indicators of farming system sustainability

Sustainable agriculture depends on a whole-system approach whose overall goal is the continuing health
of the land and people. Therefore, it concentrates on long term solutions to problems instead of short-
term treatment of symptoms. Sustainable farming is more than a set of idealistic principles or a limited
set of practices. Sustainability can be observed and measured; indicators that a farm or rural community
is achieving the three objectives of sustainability include:
a. Economic Sustainability
 The family savings or net worth is consistently going up
 The family debt is consistently going down
 The farm enterprises are consistently profitable from year to year
 Purchase of off-farm feed and fertilizer is decreasing
 Reliance on government payments is decreasing
b. Social Sustainability
 The farm supports other businesses and families in the community
 Dollars circulate within the local economy
 The number of rural families is going up or holding steady
 Young people take over their parents' farms and continue farming
 College graduates return to the community after graduation
c. Environmental Sustainability
 There is no bare ground
 Clean water flows in the farm's ditches and streams
 Wildlife is abundant
 Fish are prolific in streams that flow through the farm
 The farm landscape is diverse in vegetation
These three objectives are more managed as a single unit, though they constantly overlap.
For example, economic decisions affect the local community buying from outside instead of local
suppliers. Environmental decisions affect the economy allowing soil erosion, increases the need for
irrigation and more fertilizer.