Intercropping in fruit crops practiced as insurance against crop failure under rainfall conditions. At present, the main objective of intercropping is higher productivity per unit area and also stability in production. Intercropping systems utilize resources sufficiently and also their productivity is increased.
The main objectives of intercropping are;
The main objective is insurance against total crop failure under aberrant weather conditions or pest epidemics.
Increase in total crop productivity per unit of land area.
Judicious utilization of resources such as land labor and inputs.
Some important rules to be followed in the selection of the intercropping crops;
Caution must be ensured while selecting crops with different growth habits, duration, root growth, and taxonomical families, etc.
– Grow tall-growing crops along with bushy crops.
– Select shallow-rooted crops as intercrop in the deep-rooted crop.
– Long duration crops must be intercropped with short duration crops.
– Grow slow-growing crops in vacant spaces of fast-growing crops.
– Selected main crops and intercrops should show a negligible allelopathic effect.
– Need to intercrop non-legumes with intercrops.
– Selected crops must be of different families to avoid various pests and diseases
