Multiple Cropping
Woman farmer in her garden. Maize, peanuts, taro, cassava, bananas, and squash are grown in her garden. (Picture courtesy of Edward Glass).
It is difficult to generalize with any degree of accuracy about disease management through the use of multiple cropping. Recommendations on multiple cropping should be thoroughly tested, and site-specific recommendations will often be necessary. Time tested local practices should serve as the first guide to recommendations. Nevertheless, most of the literature indicates that there is less disease in most types of crop associations than in monoculture.
Multiple cropping in the highlands
of Ecuador (maize, squash, mustard, horse bean) (Courtesy of Roger Kirkby)
Maize, beans, and squash in Paraiso, Mexico. Note mulch.
More traditional agricultural methods :
| Mulching |
| Slash/Mulch | Frijol Tapado / Web Blight |
| Manipulating Shade | Burning | Flooding |
| Multiple Cropping | Using Organic Amendments |
| Rotations | Fallow | Raised Beds |
