Dual crop farming or multiple cropping can be either mixed cropping or intercropping.
- Mixed cropping refers to raising two or more types of crops in the same area at the same time. This increases the probability that at least one type of crop will survive even if the entire area experiences adverse conditions such as drought.
- Intercropping is similar, but with the addition of planting seeds in a specific pattern or sequence in the field. This allows farmers to maximize yield or productivity and the space available.
Dual crop farming is very popular among farmers because it optimizes the use of equipment, soil, water, and farming supplies; it also maximizes the production of a small farm all year round.
Farmers like that it reduces the risk of total loss from calamities, drought, pests, and diseases. Some good examples of multiple cropping are growing strawberries and watermelons in Florida or wheat and soybeans in addition to corn and canola in the Carolinas.
