Pepper intercropped with coffee in Colombia's southwestern Cauca Department.

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Intercropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in proximity. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop. Careful planning is required, taking into account the soil, climate, crops, and varieties. It is particularly important not to have crops competing with each other for physical space, nutrients, water, or sunlight. Examples of intercropping strategies are planting a deep-rooted crop with a shallow-rooted crop, or planting a tall crop with a shorter crop that requires partial shade. Inga alley cropping has been proposed as an alternative to the ecological destruction of Slash-and-burn farming.^[1]

When crops are carefully selected, other agronomic benefits are also achieved. Lodging-prone plants, those that are prone to tip over in wind or heavy rain, may be given structural support by their companion crop (Trenbath 1976). Creepers can also benefit from structural support. Some plants are used to suppress weeds or provide nutrients.^[2] Delicate or light sensitive plants may be given shade or protection, or otherwise wasted space can be utilized. An example is the tropical multi-tier system where coconut occupies the upper tier, banana the middle tier, and pineapple, ginger, or leguminous fodder, medicinal or aromatic plants occupy the lowest tier.

Intercropping of compatible plants also encourages biodiversity, by providing a habitat for a variety of insects and soil organisms that would not be present in a single-crop environment. This biodiversity can in turn help to limit outbreaks of crop pests (Altieri 1994) by increasing the diversity or abundance of natural enemies, such as spiders or parasitic wasps. Increasing the complexity of the crop environment through intercropping also limits the places where pests can find optimal foraging or reproductive conditions.^{[citation needed]}

The degree of spatial and temporal overlap in the two crops can vary somewhat, but both requirements must be met for a cropping system to be an intercrop. Numerous types of intercropping, all of which vary the temporal and spatial mixture to some degree, have been identified (Andrews & Kassam 1976). These are some of the more significant types:

• Mixed intercropping, as the name implies, is the most basic form in which the component crops are totally mixed in the available space.
• Row cropping involves the component crops arranged in alternate rows. Variations include alley cropping, where crops are grown in between rows of trees, and strip cropping, where multiple rows, or a strip, of one crop are alternated with multiple rows of another crop.
• Intercropping also uses the practice of sowing a fast growing crop with a slow growing crop, so that the fast growing crop is harvested before the slow growing crop starts to mature. This obviously involves some temporal separation of the two crops.
• Further temporal separation is found in relay cropping, where the second crop is sown during the growth, often near the onset of reproductive development or fruiting, of the first crop, so that the first crop is harvested to make room for the full development of the second.

See also[link]

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• Allotment garden
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• Container garden
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• Forest gardening
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• Permaculture

References[link]

• Altieri, M.A. 1991. Traditional farming in Latin America. The Ecologist 21: 93-96.
• Altieri, M.A. 1994. Biodiversity and Pest Management in Agroecosystems. Food Products Press, New York.
• Andrews, D.J., A.H. Kassam. 1976. The importance of multiple cropping in increasing world food supplies. pp. 1–10 in R.I. Papendick, A. Sanchez, G.B. Triplett (Eds.), Multiple Cropping. ASA Special Publication 27. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
• Trenbath, B.R. 1976. Plant interactions in mixed cropping communities. pp. 129–169 in R.I. Papendick, A. Sanchez, G.B. Triplett (Eds.), Multiple Cropping. ASA Special Publication 27. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.

External links[link]

• Intercrop Project
• Washington State University - Intercropping

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Rahul Kumar is an Indian football player who plays as a Defender for I-League team Salgaocar S.C.. A Punjab lad, Kumar was one of the original players of Pune F.C. in 2007.

Kumar began playing the game at the age of 14 beginning with Sanjay Public School where he played for two years. During this time he played the school nationals in Kolkata in 2001 and the next edition of the tournament the next year in Chandigarh. He also played the U-21 nationals and later went on to play for the Punjab senior team in 2005.

One of the earliest influences on his game was his coach at the start of his career at school, Ranjit Singh Rana, who not only encouraged him but was one of the coaches who also extended financial help to wards who needed it. Another coach he credits is Jaghir Singh of JCT Academy.

After school he joined the JCT Academy and followed that by a stint at the Punjab Electricity Board before making his way to PFC.

His height and built meant that he played as a defender since the beginning of his footballing days at school. Kumar is a very good player in the air which is a required skill for a defender in the centre of the field. He also backs that up with speed and with long range shooting, rounding off his skill set nicely.

Kumar’s brightest moment to date has been playing the Santosh Trophy for Punjab against Kerala. Kumar, who played left back in that game, was the junior most member of that 2005 Punjab side and he learnt a lot because everyone was eager to help the up and coming youngster.

Amongst the current lot of players, Kumar favours Baichung Bhutia amongst the forwards and the practical and sensible Mahesh Gawli of Dempo S.C amongst the defenders. Amongst players across the world he likes John Terry and Thierry Henry. Kumar loves to listen to music when he is not playing, especially Punjabi pop, his favourite artistes being Babbu Mann and Sukhwinder Singh.

External links[link]

• http://goal.com/en-india/people/india/21748/k-rahul
• http://www.indianfootball.com/en/statistic/player/detail/playerId/585

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