
In these challenging economic times, lowering the cost of farming is a priority for profitable agriculture.
One effective method to minimize costs for most crops, especially 3-month crops is through intercropping. This means that before the crops form any canopy, a 45-day crop will have matured and earned the farmer income.
This method applies to all crops with a wider spacing of 60 cm and above, with ideal cases being cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, tomato, capsicums, avocado, pixies, oranges, and coffee.
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After planting, farmers can drill furrows between the lines, add farmyard manure, and plant short-season crops such as kales, spinach, managu, dhania, cowpeas (kunde), and courgettes. These crops mature in 45 days, thereby supplementing the farmer’s income.
The money gained from these “intermediate” sales can finance the main crop until harvesting, effectively reducing the cost of farming the main crop by almost half.
Coffee and other orchards can also be intercropped with three-month crops such as watermelons and butternuts, which act as ground cover.
The advantage is that they share similar disease control, therefore not requiring extra expenses. Learn profitable farming here.
This intercropping method is a smart way to maximize the use of all inputs, resulting in increased production per unit area of land.
This is the secret that enables the farm large scales farms at low cost. The diversification also lowers risks keeping them safe against total loss.