Monday, May 10, 2010

Benefits of Crop Rotation

#17

In southwestern Ontario, there are many farms. A lot of these farms have crops, which they grow. Most farmers grow more than one crop. So to bring out excellent yield for their crops, they rotate them every year when they plant them. On my farm, the crop rotation is usually wheat, corn, soybeans, and back to wheat again. There are many benefits to crop rotation.

A benefit of crop rotation is that it helps prevent weed and bug build-up. If you were to grow the same crop year after year in the same field, the weeds and bugs will learn how to adapt so that they can survive the pesticide and herbicide that gets sprayed on the plants. In doing this, the bugs and weeds can live past your spray, even though your intention of spraying the crop is to get rid of the pests.

Crop rotation also reduces soil erosion. When you get a different crop in the field, you are allowing new roots to grow in the soil, hopefully keeping the soil in place. When harvest season comes, you leave a new cover on the ground, depending on the crop that is being grown. With corn, a decent part of the stalk is left behind after it is harvested. So the roots from those plants are holding the ground in place. It is harder for the ground to move when there is an object in it that it needs to go around, no matter the size.

Not only does crop rotation benefit the crops, it also benefits the soil. Crop rotation prevents soil depletion, meaning that the soil doesn’t get as tired so quickly. Different crops need different nutrients from the soil in order to grow. When you rotate your crops, you are allowing the nutrients that are required to grow plant A, to accumulate and rest, while plant B uses the nutrients that it needs, which are different than plant A’s. In a way, crop rotation is a way for the soil to “recharge” and “rest”, to prepare for the next time that it needs those nutrients.

So while some people may wonder what the benefits of crop rotation are, or why farmers even do it, those are some of the few reasons. Yes, it is probably easier to just plant the same thing in the same field year after year, but farmers aren’t looking for efficiency, they are looking for prosperity. They want to do the things that will bring up a better yield for their crops.

References
http://www.oisat.org/control_methods/cultural__practices/crop_rotation.html
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/news/2001/Jan/croprotate.htm
http://dairynutrient.wisc.edu/468/page.php?id=166

2 comments:

  1. #9
    well done. I understand how important crop rotation is being a cash crop farmer. Do you seed your wheat down with red clover?

    ReplyDelete
  2. #7
    Your blog was very well written, it didn't go off topic and kept my attention, you explained the benefits of crop rotation very well. Is there any bad points about crop rotation?

    ReplyDelete

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