Farm Design - Design One (Ver 2.2)

In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we will cover the various permutations and combinations of Long Term Crops (mainly Trees) & Medium Term Crops (again mainly Trees) and their placement at a basic design level.

So far, we have covered where the Trees will occupy the spaces in the field.  But now, we will see the different options within the Trees Space as well.

I have provided 6 options above and we will discuss them in detail below.  The Options that marked with * can be applied for Long Term Crops & Medium Term Crops as well.

Option 1

• This option is a very generic option and no specific crops have been mentioned.  The Long Term Crops specifically means that we should only plant crops that are long term in nature and similarly Medium Term Crops specifically means that we should only plant crops that are medium term in nature.
• The only requirement in this option is that we have to alternate between Long Term Crops & Short Term Crops in each row.
• The advantage is that the entire row needs attention at the same time whether it is pruning, manuring, pesticide requirements, harvest etc.
• This option is very simple in nature when compared to the other options.

Option 2*

• This option has Single Type Fruit Crops in one row and Single Type Timber Crops in alternate row.
• The only requirement in this option is that only one Fruit Crop (eg Mango) has to be planted in one row and followed by one Timber Crop (eg Teak) in the next row.
• The third row can be a different Fruit Crop (eg Coconut) and the fourth row can be a different Timber Crop (eg Red Sanders) as well.
• The advantage is that the entire row needs attention at the same time whether it is pruning, manuring, pesticide management, harvest etc.
• Another advantage in this option is that the alternate row is occupied by Timber Crops and the crown size generally will be very less and hence the Odd Rows (Fruit Crops) will get sufficient space to grow.
• This option is again very simple in nature.

Option 3*

• This option has Single Type Fruit Crops (eg Mango) in one column and followed by Single Type Timber Crops (eg Teak) in the next column.
• The second row can be a different Fruit Crop (eg Coconut) as well as the same or entirely different Timber Crop (eg Teak or Red Sanders).
• The advantage in this option is that the alternate column is occupied by Timber Crops and the crown size generally will be very less and hence the Fruit Crops will get sufficient space to grow.
• The complications starts here as we have 2 different crops in the same row and hence has to be managed differently.

Option 4*

• This option has Single Type Fruit Crops (eg Mango) in one column and followed by Multiple Type Timber Crops (eg Melia + Teak + etc) in the next columns.
• The second row can be a different Fruit Crop (eg Coconut) as well as the same or entirely different Timber Crops (eg Melia + Teak + etc or Pencil + Red Sanders + etc).
• The advantage in this option is that the alternate column is occupied by Timber Crops and the crown size generally will be very less and hence the Fruit Crops will get sufficient space to grow.
• The complications starts here as we have 1 fixed Fruit Crop and 2 or more different Timber Crops in the same row and hence has to be managed differently.

Option 5*

• This option has Multiple Type Fruit Crops (eg Mango + Sapota + etc) and followed by Multiple Type Timber Crops (eg Melia + Teak + etc) in the next columns.
• The second row can be the same or entirely different set of Fruit Crops (eg Mango + Sapota + etc or Coconut + Tamarind + etc) as well as the same or entirely different Timber Crops (eg Melia + Teak + etc or Pencil + Red Sanders + etc).
• The advantage in this option is that the alternate column is occupied by Timber Crops and the crown size generally will be very less and hence the Fruit Crops will get sufficient space to grow.
• The complications starts here as we have 2 or more different Fruit Crop and 2 or more different Timber crops in the same row and hence has to be managed differently.
• Those who use this option has to maintain records properly to knows which crops stands where.
• A mini forest is being created in this option.

Option 6

• This option is a very generic option and no specific crops have been mentioned.
• One of the  requirements in this option is that we have to alternate between Long Term Fruit Crops & Long Term Timber Crops in the same row.
• The other requirement in this option is that we have to alternate between Medium Term Fruit Crops & Medium Term Timber Crops in the next row.
• The advantage in this option is that the alternate column is occupied by Timber Crops and the crown size generally will be very less and hence the Fruit Crops column will get sufficient space to grow.
• Another advantage in this option is that both the crops (more or less) will attain maturity at the same time since we are going for the same type of longevity of the crops and hence the entire row can be managed properly.
• A mini forest is being created in this option.

Choosing the Right Combination of Crops - Short Term, Medium Term & Long Term Crops

In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we are going to see how to choose the Right Combination of Crops.
In continuation with the filter (criteria) for selecting the crops, we will be covering a very important topic in this blog and it may be a considered a super filter rather than just another filter.  Within this filter, you can ensure that other filters are also taken care of.


What is meant by Short Term, Medium Term & Long Term Crops?

Short Term Crops - Any crop that has life term of about 1 Yr and less (<= 1 Yr) is considered Short Term Crops

For eg, Paddy,  Leafy Green Vegetables, Cereals, Millets etc

Medium Term Crops - Any crop that has life term of greater than 1 Yr and less than 5 Yrs  (> 1 Yr & <= 5 Yrs) is considered Medium Term Crops

For eg, Sugarcane, Banana, Bamboo, Pappaya etc

Long Term Crops - Any crop that has life term of greater than 5 Yrs (> 5 Yrs) is considered Long Term Crops

For eg, Mango, Coconut, Teak etc


Is it necessity to go for only Short Term or Medium Term or Long Term Crops? Does one exclude the other?

Simply putting it, all are necessary.

Short Term Crops provide us with cash flow capabilities and takes care of day-to-day operations cost of the farm.

Medium Term Crops provides with cash flow capabilities that will allow the farmer to extend the farming operations like buying costly machinery which may be required for the farm.

Long Term Crops provides with cash flow capabilities that will allow the farmer to plan for long term.

Please note that in both the Medium Term & Long Term Crops there is the waiting (gestation) period for output and hence keep this in mind while planning for further activities in the farm.


To give a concrete example why having the combined crops is necessary, let us re-visit the recent past.

During the Thane Cyclone, Cuddalore (in Tamilnadu) was affected heavily and most of the farmers have lost their Cashnew & Jackfruit crops which are considered Long Term Crops.

If for example, if they have used the SML (Short, Medium & Long Term) model, their daily survival would not suffer as they can easily re-invest in the Short Term Crops and ensure their survival is not at stake while re-building their Medium & Long Term Crops.

Another example would be the disastrous drop in Turmeric Prices after reaching the peak before those years.

By following the SML model and ensuring diversification well, the farmers profit or loss is well balanced and they can easily carry on without much difficulty.

By adopting the SML model, we can see the following benefits.

• Cash Flow is maintained at all times
• Work Load is balanced
• Need of Labour is balanced and hence can have permanent labour and reduced need of temporary labour (in bulk)
• Vagaries of the market price affecting our produce is balanced

How much percentage of Short Term, Medium Term & Long Term Crops is required?

We should have a balanced approach here and ensure that all the crops have similar percentage of land allocated to it.

The idea is to have a combination of all the crops so that we have continuous work in our farm as well as to ensure the cash flow is steady.