Popular oilseed crops that can be grown as intercrop in cotton:
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A common intercropping ratio is 1 row of cotton to 2 rows of groundnut or soybean.
This configuration provides additional oilseed yield without reducing the main cotton yield.
Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Intercropping is the practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field to maximize resource-use efficiency and reduce the risk of crop failure.
When selecting companion crops for a main crop like cotton, the intercrop should have a different growth habit, rooting depth, and maturity period to minimize competition. Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Cotton (*Gossypium* spp.) is a wide-spaced, slow-growing, long-duration crop during its early vegetative stages.
This growth habit leaves a significant amount of unoccupied space and solar radiation between the rows during the first 60 to 75 days.
To utilize this resource, short-duration, low-canopy crops can be grown between the cotton rows.
Soybean (*Glycine max*) and groundnut (*Arachis hypogaea*) are excellent kharif oilseed intercrops for cotton.
Both are low-growing legumes that do not compete with cotton for vertical light space.
As legumes, they also fix atmospheric nitrogen, which can benefit the soil and the companion cotton crop.
Additionally, they mature in 90 to 110 days, allowing them to be harvested well before the cotton canopy fully closes and starts producing bolls.
Mustard and safflower are rabi (winter) crops, making them unsuitable as companion intercrops during the main kharif vegetative growth phase of cotton. Step 2: Final Answer:
The popular oilseed crops grown as intercrops in cotton are Soybean and groundnut.
