Cereal–vegetable intercropping: hindrances and strategies to increase intercropping

Abstract

Climate change is the major factor that affects crop yield and productivity in the long term. The changing climate scenario is now impacting farmers’ lands and their outcomes in both developed and developing countries. The intercropping of crop species or varieties that have high arable capability is a promising technique for increasing crop production without increasing agricultural inputs. In intercropping, the selection of varieties, optimum sowing time, method of plant arrangement, and sowing proportion are required to make the design suitable for an intercropping system. Intercropping is one of the most highlighted agronomic practices helping to improve soil health (structure, fertility, nutrient uptake, etc.) and enhance yield and crop income per capita. Cereal–vegetable intercropping is used to improve crop status and improve the fertility of soil due to nitrogen fixation. However, this intercropping has some barriers to increasing yield and outputs regarding crops. In this paper, we summarize the latest literature about intercropping, its impacts, crop modeling, barriers, and what measures should be considered to increase the rates of intercropping.