Introduction and Definitions

Intercropping, as the term will be used in this text, is the growing of two or more cultivars, either simultaneously or sequentially on the same area of land. For the most part, we shall confine our attention to the part of intercropping that deals with crops grown on the same area of land at the same time. Many of the concepts and analyses developed and exemplified will be useful for a mixture of cultivars grown at different times on the same unit of land. Intercropping is a centuries-old farming system that has persisted throughout the ages down to the present time. It is used extensively in areas of survival and tropical agriculture and will no doubt become important in temperate zone agriculture. This type of farming is becoming increasingly important for a variety of reasons such as, for example, the increasing costs and ineffectiveness of fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers, and irrigation.