Agricultural Cropping System in the Caribbean
The two main types of cropping systems in the Caribbean are mono-cropping and multiple cropping. Mono-cropping can be classified as peasant or small farmers system (subsistence). Mono-cropping is an agricultural practice in which the same crop is planted year after year, without practicing crop rotation or resting of the soil. The advantages of mono-cropping are, the farmer can specifically invest in machinery designed for that crop and the crop can be mechanically treated and harvested. The disadvantages of mono-cropping are, the plant will strip the soil of the nutrients it needs and severely depletes the soil, this causes farmers to use fertilizers which in the end will disturb the natural balance of the soil Mono-cropping by peasants or small farmers isn't usually practiced but since of lately they are seen growing traditional crops such as sugar cane, bananas, and wheat. The available space left is used for self sufficient farming in which the farmer focuses on growing food for himself and his family.
E.g. of mono-cropping
The plantation system (commercial) is a forest, farm, or estate where crops are grown for sale in far way cities rather than local markets and is not intended to be consumed by the farmer or his family. The crops grown on the plantation include cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, and cocoa. A plantation is always a mono culture.
Multiple cropping or multi-cropping is an intensive system of farming in which several different crops are planted on the same piece of land, either at the same time or in succession. There is Sequential cropping which is the planting of crops in succession on the same piece of land and Mixed inter-cropping which is the planting of different types of crops in the same field in the same season. Both types of cropping are essential for replacing nutrients in the soil that one type of plant might have used heavily for e.g. some plants need a lot of nitrogen to grow, these plants use a lot of nitrogen in the soil so a plant that puts nitrogen back in the soil is planted in the off season, e.g. of these plants are legumes.
Pictures:
The two main types of cropping systems in the Caribbean are mono-cropping and multiple cropping. Mono-cropping can be classified as peasant or small farmers system (subsistence). Mono-cropping is an agricultural practice in which the same crop is planted year after year, without practicing crop rotation or resting of the soil. The advantages of mono-cropping are, the farmer can specifically invest in machinery designed for that crop and the crop can be mechanically treated and harvested. The disadvantages of mono-cropping are, the plant will strip the soil of the nutrients it needs and severely depletes the soil, this causes farmers to use fertilizers which in the end will disturb the natural balance of the soil Mono-cropping by peasants or small farmers isn't usually practiced but since of lately they are seen growing traditional crops such as sugar cane, bananas, and wheat. The available space left is used for self sufficient farming in which the farmer focuses on growing food for himself and his family.
E.g. of mono-cropping
The plantation system (commercial) is a forest, farm, or estate where crops are grown for sale in far way cities rather than local markets and is not intended to be consumed by the farmer or his family. The crops grown on the plantation include cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, and cocoa. A plantation is always a mono culture.
Multiple cropping or multi-cropping is an intensive system of farming in which several different crops are planted on the same piece of land, either at the same time or in succession. There is Sequential cropping which is the planting of crops in succession on the same piece of land and Mixed inter-cropping which is the planting of different types of crops in the same field in the same season. Both types of cropping are essential for replacing nutrients in the soil that one type of plant might have used heavily for e.g. some plants need a lot of nitrogen to grow, these plants use a lot of nitrogen in the soil so a plant that puts nitrogen back in the soil is planted in the off season, e.g. of these plants are legumes.
Pictures:
REFERENCE:
“What is Monocropping?”, Wise Geek, Last Modified Date: 24 August 2014, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-monocropping.htm.