What is multilayer cropping, in this post I will help you to understand the concept of multilayer farming in which we will understand the selection of 4 different crops their care and production
Multilayer farming model
In this model various crops are selected according to the whether these crops are divided in 4 layers
1 layer – under ground crops like ginger, potato, turmeric, garlic etc
2nd layer crops – above the field crops various vegetables like (chaulai) amaranth , spinach, fenugreek etc
3rd layer crops – vine crops, creeper crops - these are climbing crops like bitter gourd, gourd, turai, Ivy gourd etc
4th layer crops – papaya, banana,
How to start multilayer farming
Multilayer farming is not a difficult task at all but people are not aware of this smart farming method through this post I want to educate people about benefits of multilayer farming .
First you need to select multilayer farming crop combination list according to your region, today I will give you multilayer farming examples with some selected crops here are few selected crops –
- Ginger
- Chaulai or fenugreek
- Bitter gourd or Ivy gourd or both
- Papaya, banana or mango
After selecting four layer crops we need to understand the plantation time and ground preparation process lets start from the first crop
1st layer crop
- Ginger – after ploughing your farm germinate gingers two inches deeper here you should use a technique i.e usually ginger is planted from April to June which delivers in the month of November but here choose February month to sow the ginger so that it can deliver gingers in the month of August. However, February is off season month for gingers moreover ginger will get ready in the August month when the market is lacking gingers so you can get good income for your gingers.
- Another main point is that November and August month ginger the gingers which came out in August month contains more weight due to the humidity in the soil and whether and ginger property is 90 percent water which actually losses in the winter season hence you can get more benefits in producing ginger in August month.
2nd layer crop
- After germinating ginger level your field and after leveling provide some water to your field however this process can definitely introduce weed in your land. Moreover, ginger need at least 2-3 months to grow meanwhile weed can capture the whole field to avoid weed now select 2nd layer crop accordingly.
- I have selected nitrogen based amaranth crop you can see shoots coming out just in 3rd day now this crop will take hardly 15 days to grow and it will cover all the field now start picking the tallest chaulai plant along with the root while picking the plant from the root it will also flip over the soil and this will maintain the respiratory system along with partial sunlight the plants and ginger crop but remember don’t pick all the plants together just pick it by the length of the plant, this will also reduce the cost of weed removing and labour cost
By planting amaranth plant you can get 3 advantages first it has stopped the growing chances of weed completely which reduces your effort of weed removing, it also prevents use of weedicides second benefit due to the shade provided to gingers by amaranth plants by covering the whole field the moisture level maintains for long period in the ginger crop that helps in weight gain
- Before starting multilayer farming you need to prepare your farm and after ploughing you can dig some bamboos or thick wood in the shape of poles in equal distance on the rows that were not used for any crop then use a thin wire or rope (joot rope) connect all the poles with the help of rope then collect some dry grass and make a sheet of the grass tie it over the pole like a hut.
- Benefit of making this hand made shade is first it will reduce the cost of tin shade, it is whether friendly because in excess warm season it will stop the direct sunlight and provide partial sunlight which is required for crop moreover it is also useful in rainy season because it will slow down the rain and its burst. It is very helpful in winter season because it will prevent direct frost hence we can say this shade is very useful in climate change conditions.
3rd layer crop
Now implement your 3rd layer crop with the help of bamboos or wood sticks, use ivy gourd (kundru) or any other climbing crop according to your convenience then help the creepers to spread over the shade with the help of rope. If its ivy gourd then you just need to plant it once and it has the capacity to continue till 20 years by providing proper care and pruning, while talking about one year production it produces vegetables till 9 months starting from February to novemeber
4th layer crop
You can use papaya with the distance of 18 by 12 feet. You can plant the papaya in feb and till june it will cross the shade
Multilayer farming in India
- Amaranth plant root zone is 2 inches deeper from the surface before moving ahead from 2 inches you have to pick this plant so that the ginger roots does not get effected by it. Amarnath plant uses the water and fertilizer from 2 inches surface area whereas ginger utilizes the fertilizer and water from 2 inches to 9 inches because the ginger roots spreads 9 inch deeper.
- Papaya roots are more than 2 feet deeper into the land so it utilizes fertilizer and water from two feet deeper inside the land. While talking about ivy gourd the roots are spread two inches deeper and two inches wider so it utilizes rest water and fertilizer from the farm.
Multilayer farming cost and profit
Amarnath (chaulai) - It continuously produces vegetable leaves till 3 to 4 months and it produces the amount while selling is between Rs 1 to 1.5 lakh once in a year however it produces the leaves before rainy season i.e till July month.
Ivy gourd (kundru) – This crop continues from February to nov and can produce almost 200 quintal ivy gourd in a year and the price of 1 kg ivy gourd varies between Rs 10 to Rs 30 if Rs 10 per kg then 200 quintal = { 20 thousand kg } 10 X 20,000 kg = Rs 2 lakh
Papaya - If papaya produces around 100 quintal in a year due to the less plantation and good spacing of 18 by 12 feet even then it can give Rs 1.5 lakh by the rate of Rs 15 per kg
Ginger – Because of growing (offseason) ginger in February month it will mature till August and in this month there is hardly any ginger available in the market because the usual time of ginger availability is nov month and this will effect on the pricing of the gingers you can take advantage of good ginger rates according to you.
One more benefit is that due to the moisture in the August month the weight of gingers will increase by 25 - 30 % which is good sign because water is one of the main property of ginger and ginger actually contains 90 % of water moreover it will give more benefit while selling in the market. The production of ginger will be 50 to 60 quintal and price of 1 kg ginger in August might be between Rs 40 to 50 per kg then 50 quintal = 5000 kg Rs 40 X 5000 = Rs 2 lakh
Total – chaulai Rs 1 lakh + Ivy gourd Rs 2 lakh + Papaya Rs 2 lakh + ginger Rs 2 lakh = Rs 7 lakh now reduce Rs 2-3 lakh as your investment then also you are able to produce Rs 4 to 5 lakh
Note – The above given crop combination is tested by award winner in agriculture sector Akash chaurasiya one of the multilayer specialist living in Madhya pradesh. Moreover, Aakash chaurasiya multilayer farming model is gaining popularity in India however you can grow the vegetables and lentils of your choice and you can also follow multilayer farming by akash but you need to check the correct combination before selecting the crops for multilayer farming
Few crops suggested for multilayer farming –potato, ginger, garlic, brinjal vegetable, tomato, cauliflower, lentils, coriander plant, turmeric, spinach, turai, okra plant, onion, bitter gourd, gourd, cauliflower, green chilies, turmeric
Ginger + spinach + banana
Sweet potato + coriander + coffee
Turmeric + Amarnath + Bottle gourd +coconut
Yam + chili + cucumber + papaya
Very Interesting. But how do we plan Fertilization for muti crop. Each crop need different NPK.