PAIRA CROPPING SYSTEM: A UNIQUE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE

The Paira cropping system, a unique conservation agricultural practice, has seen a decline in recent years due to climate change.

About the Paira Cropping System:

1. The Paira cropping system is a type of cropping commonly practiced in Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
2. This involves a relay method of sowing, where lentil, lathyrus, uradbean or moong seeds are sown in the standing paddy crop about 2 weeks before harvesting.

3. This system does not allow agronomic interventions such as ploughing, weeding, irrigation and fertilizer application. However, the variety of rice used determines the productivity of pulses in this system.

Advantages of the Paira Cropping System:

1. This practice enables the utilization of better soil moisture available at the time of harvesting rice crops.
2. Experimental evidence has shown that Paira cropping produces higher yields of lentil than planting with tillage after harvesting the rice crop.
3. It is an efficient way of using resources to promote sustainable cropping intensification and land productivity.

Relay Cropping Method:

1. Relay cropping is a method of multi-cropping farming where one crop is sown into another standing crop before the next crop is harvested.
2. It can address many challenges including inefficient use of available resources, conflicts in planting time, fertilizer application and soil erosion.

FAQs:

Q1: What is Intercropping?

Intercropping is an agricultural practice that involves growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field. The goal of intercropping is to increase yield per piece of land.

Some forms of intercropping include:

• Mixed cropping, Companion planting, Relay cropping, Interseeding, Overseeding, Underseeding, Smother cropping, Planting polycultures, and Using living mulch.

Some advantages of intercropping include:

1. Fertility, the ability of the soil to maintain plant growth, is very well maintained.
2. It is one of the natural ways to control pests.
3. The resources are used well

Difference Between Mixed Cropping and Intercropping
Mixed cropping	Intercropping
Involves planting two or more different crops in the same field at the same time. The crops are not necessarily planted in a specific pattern or ratio.	Involves planting two or more different crops in the same field at different times. The crops are planted in a specific pattern or arrangement.

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