What is multi-crop agriculture or polyculture?
Multi-crop farming is an agricultural method that aims to simulate nature. In this method, plants that are complementary to each other are cultivated in the same place, because the cultivation of different plants next to each other establishes the balance in the ecosystem.
If you want to see a familiar example of multi-crop agriculture, look at the trees, wild flowers, grasses and bushes of forested areas in the wild.
This method became popular because the farmers observed the nature and realized that the cultivation of different plants in one field reduces the risk of the spread of pests and diseases and actually improves the soil structure. Using this method, they could also grow more diverse crops.
One of the most famous combination of multi-crop farming is the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash in one field, which is also called three sisters cultivation. In Three Sisters cultivation, tall corns provide a place for beans to grow, beans control soil nitrogen, and ground cover pumpkins keep weeds and pests away from the area.
On the other hand, in mono-crop farming, only one type of plant is cultivated in a large area. For example, single crop farming can be seen in vast corn fields.
Single-crop farming became popular during the Great Depression in the United States, because at that time the crops produced did not meet the needs of the people. By forming large and extensive farms, farmers managed to cover a large amount of people’s needs, which stabilized prices.
The single-crop method is less popular today because it is very difficult to control pests and diseases in a single-crop farm. For example, if you grow potatoes and the soil of the field is affected by potato fungus, all your crops will be lost.
This post is written by www_AgriDelta_ir