Fruit Crop-Based Cropping System: A Key for ... - Popular Kheti

Popular KhetiVolume -1, Issue-2 (April-June), 2013Available online at www.popularkheti.com© 2013 popularkheti.comISSN:2321-0001Fruit Crop-Based Cropping System: A Key for Sustainable ProductionMahesh Kumar Dhakar * , Brij Bihari Sharma and Kailash PrajapatIndian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi - 110012*Email of corresponding author: mahesh2iari@gmail.comSubsistence farmers who often face famine condition would like to adopt a technology which wouldproduce at least some yield to run livelihood even in the worst year of agriculture. Fruit basedcropping system is one of such types of technologies which can provide the farmers an appreciableamount of economic return even under unfavourable agro ecological situations. This is very difficultto achieve by growing only seasonal or forage crops which often fail under abnormality of weatherbut fruit trees are efficient to be productive even such conditions.IntroductionFruit based cropping system can be defined asa planting system comprising combinations ofplants with various morpho-phenologicalfeatures to maximize the natural resource useefficiency and enhanced total factorproductivity. The system comprising of acombination of perennial and annual plantspecies as different components in the samepiece of land arranged in a geometry thatfacilitates maximum utilization of space infour directions (length, width, height anddepth) leading to maximum economicproductivity of the system.To ensure high returns from theunderutilized and stressed lands and improvethe soil characteristics, perennial fruit plantbased production system have been foundsuccessful under semi arid and dry landconditions. Storing carbon (C) in vegetationand soils is one of the strategies accepted bythe United Nations for mitigating highatmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide(CO 2 ) that causes global warming. Thesemultispecies plant associations are speculatedto have high carbon sequestration potential(CSP) due to their forest-like structure andcomposition, particularly in accumulating C inthe soil. The ecological process by which treescontribute to such higher amounts of C instable form is believed to be mediated via litterfall and decomposition, and root activityespecially decomposition of sloughed-offroots.Components of Fruit Based CroppingSystemThe system consists of three main componentsviz. main crop, filler crop and inter crop.A. Main Crop: Main crops are the fruitspecies having a larger canopy size andprolonged juvenile as well as productivephase. Generally the crops utilize the entireland after 20-25 years, whereas only 25-30per cent of land is effectively used up by themain crop up to 10 years. These plants areplanted at wider spacing.Popular Kheti ISSN:2321-0001 39

Dhakar et al., 2013, Pop. Kheti, 1(2): 39-44Criteria for selecting of main crops are:1. Xeric characters such as deep tap rootsystem, high bound water in tissues,sunken stomata, waxy coating, thickcuticle and pubescence.2. Ability to complete maximum vegetativeand reproductive phase during the periodof moisture availability.3. Root system and root growth should beable to exploit deeper soil layers thanthose tapped by the under and groundstorey crops.4. Branching habit that allows lightpenetration to the under storey crops.5. Species should be strong coppicer andshould respond to pruning.6. Leaf fall during the growth period of theground crops and the rate of litter falland decomposition should have positiveeffect on soil fertility.7. Resistant to pest and diseases.Suitable Varieties of Different Fruits CropsMango Bombay Green, Himsagar, Zardalu,Krishna Bhog, Langra, Maldah,Dashehari, Chausa, Mallika, AmrapaliLitchi Shahi, Ajhauli, Rose Scented, Trikolia,Swarna Roopa, ChinaAonla Narendra Aonla-7, KanchanSapota PKM-1, Kalipatti, DHS-1, CricketBallJack fruit Khajva, Swarna Poorti, SwarnaManoharGuava Sardar, Allahabad Safeda, ArkaMridulaCustard apple Balanagar, Arka SahanPapaya Pusa Dwarf, Pusa NanhaLime KagziB. Filler Crops: The filler crops are the fruitspecies which are precocious in nature,prolific bearer having short stature. Theseplants are planted with the purpose togenerate additional income from the landduring the juvenile and initial bearing stageof the main crops. The plants generallyhardy in nature and have shorter economiclife than main crop and planted within themain crop at a closer spacing. The fillerplants can be removed after the main cropsattain effective canopy size for yieldingeconomically.Guava, being a prolific and preciousbearing fruit plant and dwarf staturecanopy can very well be fitted as secondstorey crop for additional income at leastin the initial years of the orchard. Papaya,Banana, Pomegranate and Phalsa etc. arealso used as filler crop.C. Inter Crop: The inter crop occupy thelower most layer of the system and aregrown in the remaining unused land.Generally the inter crops are the locationspecific annual crops, selected as per theclimatic and socio-economic suitability.During the initial years any crop can betaken, whereas at later stage shade tolerantcrops can be grown as inter crops.Criteria for selecting of inter crops are:1. Early maturing.2. Should have shade tolerance suiting theamount of available solar radiation.3. Should not compete with the perennialcompanion crop.4. Should not be more susceptible thanthe main crop to diseases they havecommon.Popular Kheti ISSN:2321-0001 40

Dhakar et al., 2013, Pop. Kheti, 1(2): 39-445. Should not require mechanizedharvesting or other operations thatwould damage the main crop or inducesoil erosion or damage soil structure.6. Should not have economic life longerthan that of main crop.7. Should suit the local agro climatic,labour, irrigation andmarket/processing facilities.8. Leguminous ground storey crops thathave nitrogen fixing capacity should bepreferred.Leguminous crops have been reported to bethe most remunerative intercrops in fruit basedcropping system during the initial 7-10 years.Scientists have also advocated monocot grassspp. (Cenchrus ciliaris) under stress conditionsof arid region. Many tropical Medicinal andAromatic Plants are well adapted to partialshading, moist soil, high relative humidity andmild temperatures, allowing them to beintercropped with timber and fuel woodplantations, fruit trees and plantation crops.Some well known medicinal plants that havebeen successfully intercropped in India,include safed musli (Chlorophytumborivilianum), rauvolfia (Rauvolfiaserpentina), turmeric (Curcuma longa), wildturmeric (C. aromatica), Curculigo orchioides,and ginger (Zingiber officinale) etc.Allelopathy Effect in Fruit Based CroppingSystemThe term allelopathy, was introduced byMolisch in 1937, and is derived from theGreek words allelon ‘of each other’ and pathos‘to suffer’ and means the injurious effect ofone upon the other. In 1996 The InternationalAllelopathy Society defined allelopathy asfollows: “Any process involving secondarymetabolites produced by plants, microorganisms,viruses, and fungi that influencethe growth and development of agriculturaland biological systems (excluding animals),including positive and negative effects”.Chemicals released from plants and imposingallelopathic influences are termedallelochemicals or allelochemics.Allelochemicals can be present in several partsof plants including roots, rhizomes, leaves,stems, pollen, seeds and flowers. Generally,there are four processes by which allelopathicsubstances are released into the environment:volatilization, leaching, decomposition of plantresidues, and root exudation. When susceptibleplants are exposed to allelochemicals,germination, growth and development may beaffected. Allelopathy occurring amongindividuals of the same species is termedautotoxicity. Autotoxicity is known forexample in Medicago sativa (alfalfa),Trifolium spp. (clovers) and Asparagusofficinalis (asparagus). A number of crops andvegetables are known for their allelopathicactivities such as corn, sunflower, sorghumand tomato. Tomato seed germination,seedling growth and dry weight were verysensitive to aqueous extract of most testedplants [okra (Hibiscus esulentus L.); sorghum(Sorghum bicolor L. subspecies tichnicum);sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.); pepperPopular Kheti ISSN:2321-0001 41

Dhakar et al., 2013, Pop. Kheti, 1(2): 39-44(Capsicum frutescens L.); and tomato(Lycopersicon esculentum L.)]. This meansthat compatibility will not occur betweentomato and these interacted plants under mixedcropping. In the same time okra plants wasless susceptible to the aqueous extracts of alltested plants except that of sorghum. Thismeans that okra exhibits more resistancetoward phytotoxic substances from otherintercropped plants and can grow together atthe same time.Black walnut is considered as the mostnotorious of allelopathic trees. It has long beenrecognized that the principal chemicalresponsible for walnut allelopathy is aphenolic compound called juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4- naphthoquinone). However, installation ofpolyethylene root barriers proved to beefficient in preventing juglone from gettinginto the alley where associated crop speciesare normally planted. This implies thatmanagement practices such as root pruning,fertilizer injection, or root discing can be usedto limit the impacts of juglone.Fruit Crop-Based Cropping SystemsA. Fruit based diversified cropping systemfor arid region developed by CentralInstitute for Arid Horticulture (CIAH)1) Ber Based SystemIn-situ budded ber cultivar Gola asoverstorey component and groundnutwheat,clusterbean-mustard and Indian aloeas ground storey component were integratedinto the system. Among different cropcombinations, the highest fruit yield of berwas recorded with Indian aloe while withgroundnut-wheat and clusterbean-mustard,the yield level was almost at par andminimum yield was recorded under soleplantation. The highest B:C ratio (3.67) wasobtained in ber + clusterbean-mustardsystem.2) Aonla (Emlica officinalis) BasedCropping SystemThe tree canopy of aonla allows filteredlight and permit intercropping even after ithas made full growth. Two models havebeen developed-(i) M 1 = Aonla – Ber – Brinjal –Mothbean – Fenugreek.(ii) M 2 = Aonla – Prosopis – Suaeda –Mothbean – Mustard.Highest gross return (25662 Rs ha -1 ) wasobtained under M 2 model.3) Khejri [Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce]Based SystemMain crop: Khejri (Prosopis cineraria),Filler crops: Ber (Ziziphus rotundifolia),Lasora (Cordia myxa), pilu (Salvadoraoleoides) and ker (Capparis deciduas)Inter crops: Jawar (Sorghum bicolor), pearlmillet (Pennisetum typhoides), mothbean(Vigna aconitifolius), clusterbean(Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) and sesame(Sesamum indicum).4) Cordia Based SystemCordia myxa has been observed to be asuitable tree in association with several cropslike-Popular Kheti ISSN:2321-0001 42

Dhakar et al., 2013, Pop. Kheti, 1(2): 39-44In Rainfed: Pearl millet (Pennisetumtyphoides), clusterbean (Cyamopsistetragonoloba), taramira (Eruca sativa) andvegetables.In Irrigated: Rapeseed and mustard (Brassicaspp.), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and greengram (Vigna radiata).B. ICAR research complex for easternregion at Ranchi recommended followingsystem.1) In the locations having comparatively bettersoil conditions and facilities ofsupplemental irrigation, litchi(Litchi chinensis) based models with guava(Psidium guajava) as filler crop can begrown with intercropping of French bean(phaseolus vulgaris) and cowpea (Vignasinensis) during initial eight years.2) For location having no supplementalirrigation with sloppy land, mango +gamhar (Gmelina arborea) + Stylosantheshamata (Gass) model will be moreeffective.3) On the highest part of watersheds havinggravelly land or coarse soil formations,aonla based system can be most effective.C. Directorate of research on women inagriculture, Bhubaneshwar (Orrisa)developed horticulture based croppingmodels like mango based, guava based,minor fruit based, coconut based, cashewnut based and hortisilvipastural modelswere laid out. More than 25 intercrops,including vegetables, short duration fruitcrops, flowers, aromatic plants, foddercrops and root crops were planted amongthese crops. These model helps ingenerating 6F ’ s of sustainability – food,fodder, fuel, feed, fibre and finance.D. National Research Centre forAgroforestry, Jhansi has been workingon aonla (Emlica officinalis) basedagroforestry systems since 1989-90 invery poor soil having very shallow depthand low moisture holding capacity, knownas rakkar soil of the Bundelkhand region.NRC for Agroforestry initiated a field trialduring 1989 with 4 varieties of aonla viz.Chakaiya, Kanchan, Krishna and NA-7 asfruit trees, subabul (Leucaenaleucocephala) as multipurpose tree andblackgram (Vigna mungo) as intercrop inrainfed areas. The subabul was planted onboth sides of the fruit trees at 2m distance.The aonla was planted at 10 x 6m and 5 x6m spacing but 10 x 6m spacing proved tobe ideal spacing among these. Fruit bearingin aonla started 4 years after plantation. Atthe age of 6 years, on an average the fruityield from a plant was up to 93 kg. Besidesfruit yield of aonla, 256 kg grain (on anaverage) was obtained from blackgramevery year. Introduction of Leucaena in thesystem provides organic matter in form ofleaf litter and it also fixes atmosphericnitrogen in the soil. Leucaena was cut twicea year and it provided on an average 1325kg fuel wood and 799 kg leaves ha -1 everyyear. The leaves of Leucaena were utilizedas mulch to minimize moisture loss fromsoil during summer, which is veryPopular Kheti ISSN:2321-0001 43

Dhakar et al., 2013, Pop. Kheti, 1(2): 39-44beneficial in alfisols in rainfed areas.Besides fuel and fodder yield fromLeucaena, it also helped in improving soilfertility. In this system, organic carbonincreased after 9 years up to 28.1 per centfrom original value (0.32 per cent).ConclusionFruit based cropping system is a very goodoption for minimization of crop failure riskat a farm due to anomaly of weather.A variety of crops in the system has beenfound to be productive however, researchstill need to be carried out with respect tovalidation of the different systems indifferent agro ecological situations,inclusion of more horticultural crops andtheir planting pattern with other food cropsfor maximum possible economic benefits.For more informationCIAH / TECH / PUB. / No. 25. Fruit BasedDiversified Cropping System for AridRegions, Bikaner, Rajasthan.Popular Kheti ISSN:2321-0001 44