Crop diversification options for enhancing sustainability in irrigated ecosystems

Abstract

Crop diversification is an effort to enhance crop productivity and sustainability by growing a variety of crops in a particular area, instead of focusing on a single crop. It aims to improve crop productivity and soil health, maintain the ecological balance and reduce risk of crop failure due to pests, diseases, ecological and environmental factors. Crop diversification serves as an opportunity to augment the income of small landholder farmers and employment generation for rural communities. It has many agronomic benefits in pest management by breaking insect habitats and interrupts the disease cycle, reducing weeds and soil erosion, promotes the interaction of beneficial soil bacteria and conserving soil moisture and natural resources. Maximum cropped area of the country is under rainfed, with inadequate supply of seeds and plants materials of improved varieties, fragmentation of land holding and inadequate post-harvest infrastructure being the major challenges for the adoption of crop diversification. Farmers are shifting from low-value crops with low yields to high-value crops with high yields by exploiting the benefits of crop diversification. Thus, crop diversification has the sound capacity for accomplishing the objectives of food and nutritional security, income growth, job creation and sustainable agriculture development.