Crop Intensity Index: A Research Method of Measuring Land Use in Multiple Cropping1

Abstract

A time weighted land use index known as the crop intensity index (CII) was developed to assess and compare the actual area-time devoted to crop production with the total area-time available to a farmer or group of farmers during a specified time period, usually one year. The basic CII equation may be adopted to relate the actual area-time devoted to a single crop or group of crops such as vegetables compared to the total area-time available for all crops grown on that farmer’s land, or to assess the relative area-time of a single crop or group of crops compared to the actual area-time relationship of all crops grown on that farmer’s land.