Sustainable crop diversification to stabilize system productivity and profitability

Abstract

Crop diversification refers to the addition of new crops or enterprises with or without the addition a shift from one crop or enterprise in a production system. It needs to sustain the production system of the region by enhancing the soil health, reducing biotic and abiotic stresses and increasing employment generation. Rice-potato-mungbean cropping system was sustainable, compared with a rice-wheat cropping system, in terms of higher productivity, protein yield, and energy output (Vyas, 1996). Crop diversification considering crop and forage rotation strategies, involving alternative winter crops and summer crops/forages with supplemental irrigation; and also high value options: vegetables, dry land fruit trees, medicinal and aromatic plants, development of plant-based and livestock- based products is market oriented and environmentally healthy. (Sharma, 2010). By adopting an integrated genetic and natural resource management approach, crop diversification can able to provide an improvement in livelihoods on a sustainable basis in rainfed areas, particularly by introducing high-value fruit, vegetables and value-added plant products and with options of additional irrigation (Vyas, 1996). Besides developing technologies for promoting intensification, the country /state must give greater attention to the development of technologies that will facilitate agricultural diversification particularly towards intensive production of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other high value crops that are expected to increase the income growth and generate effective demand for food. Thus, accelerating the pace of crop yields (through technological change) and crop diversification (In favor of high-value commodities) are the options to provide sustainable sources of agricultural growth in future.