What are the aspects of diversification in agricultural productive activities and difference between crop diversification and crop rotation?
crop rotation is the rotation of crops for one or two or three year to maintain the fertility, moisture and productivity of the soil.
example: Daincha -wheat- mung for 1 year
Sunhemp- sugarcane - Ratoon - wheat -urd for 2 year
Diversification means cropping + fishry, croping + Poultry
hence for generating the income, allocation of some part of land, implements, capital, or other resources for subsidiary occupation with the farming
Diversification includes two aspects, one relates to diversification of crop production and the other relates to a shift of workforce from agriculture to other allied activities and non-agricultural sector. Temporal crop diversification includes crop rotation, while spatial crop diversification is achieved through intercropping. Crop rotation is undertaken to maximize profit without large investments and without impeding soil fertility. It can also break the cycle of pests and diseases. There are two ways to achieve diversification. The first aspect refers to changing the cropping patterns which further means a change in the proportion of areas dedicated to the cultivation of various crops. The second aspect focuses on the shift of workforce to other related activities (poultry, husbandry etc.). Diversification into productive activities in this context simply means to divulge the unnecessarily employed workforce towards activities that are short on the workforce. Field Fallow-To increase the fertility of the land, the land is left uncultivated for two or more seasons. Crop rotation-Its a method of cultivation in which different types of crops are grown one after the other. Mixed Cropping-Planting of two or more types of crops simultaneously in the same land. In India, diversification has occurred both across and within the crop, livestock, forestry and fishery sectors. Within the agriculture, the share of output and employment in the non-crop sectors, i.e. animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries, has been gradually increasing.