SUBSISTENCE FARMING TECHNIQUE

CROP ROTATION

PRESENTER: LAMEISHA BURKE

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a

different crop each year on a piece of land in a regular order, to avoid exhausting the soil.

What is crop rotation?

Balance soil fertility – it makes your soil more

fertile as legumes such as beans and ground nuts fix nitrogen in the soil.

You use less chemical fertilizer, because the nitrogen is fixed naturally in the soil.

It helps to control weeds, diseases and pest by breaking their life cycles. This is so because weeds and pests are very choosy about the host

Advantages of crop rotation

crop plant, which they attack. When the crop is

changed the cycle is broken. Hence, pesticide cost is reduced.

Reduce soil erosion Allow additional soil improvements

Advantages cont’d

Soil Depth- Large rooted crops, such as

tomatoes, potatoes and corn, can not be grown in shallow soil. This limits the ability to rotate crops as recommended.

Shading

Disadvantages of crop rotation

Crops that use up a lot of nitrogen in the soil

tend to be the leafy and fruiting crops, such as lettuce, cabbage, and tomatoes. In contrast, root vegetables and herbs are light feeders. Peas, beans, and other legumes add nitrogen to the soil but need lots of phosphorus.

 

How to rotate crops

The general rule of thumb for balancing out

soil nutrients is to avoid planting the same general category of crop (root, legume, and leafy/fruiting) successively in the same place. Divide your land in three equal sections andI follow nitrogen-fixing legumes such as peas or beans with nitrogen-loving leaf or fruiting crops such as lettuce or tomatoes. Then, follow the heavy feeding crops with light-feeding root crops.

 

How to rotate crops

Comparison between crop rotation and monoculture

Monoculture One crop is planted

for a number of years.

Wide spread out break of pest and diseases.

Increasing the levels of chemical inputs results in negative environmental impact.

Cop rotation A mixture of crops is

rotated each year. Controls pest and

diseases. Nitrogen is fix

naturally in the soil.

Comparison between crop rotation

and monoculture cont’d

Farming on the same field year after year with the same crop destroys the soil.

Crop rotation balance the soil.

Merry Chris

tmas

THE END