An ideal strip-cropping system must pair a tall, erosion-permitting crop (like a cereal) with a low-growing, erosion-resistant crop (like a legume) to physically block runoff and protect the soil surface.
Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Strip cropping is an effective agronomic soil-conservation practice.
It involves growing erosion-permitting crops and erosion-resistant crops in alternate narrow strips across the slope of the land.
This arrangement reduces the velocity of runoff, filters suspended soil particles, and enhances water infiltration into the soil profile. Detailed Explanation:
To achieve maximum soil conservation and resource-use efficiency, strip cropping requires combining plants with contrasting canopy architectures and root systems:
- Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is an erect, tall-growing, and slow-establishing cereal.
Because of its upright growth habit and wide row spacing, it is classified as an erosion-permitting crop, leaving the soil vulnerable to erosion in the early stages.
- Greengram (Vigna radiata), on the other hand, is a low-growing, fast-spreading legume with a dense canopy.
It covers the soil surface quickly, shielding it from the impact of raindrops and acting as an erosion-resistant crop.
- Additionally, greengram fixes atmospheric nitrogen, which can benefit the succeeding or neighboring sorghum crop.
- Other combinations, such as Sorghum and Pearl Millet (both tall, erosion-permitting cereals) or Soybean and Groundnut (both low-growing legumes), do not provide the necessary contrast to control runoff and erosion effectively.
- Maize and Mustard are grown in different seasons (Kharif vs. Rabi), making them unsuitable for concurrent strip cropping. Step 2: Final Answer:
The optimum crop combination for strip cropping is Sorghum and greengram.
