Crop Rotation : Benefits in Pests Control

The benefits of management insect pests in crop rotation and How to manage it for safety environment

    crop rotation is an essential practice in agricultural systems that is because will be different types crop in the same area of sequential seasons. It done for recycle the soil so that can get a better nutrients. Also that, it related to agronomic, economic and environmental benefits compared to monoculture cropping. Crop rotation has been used for a thousands of years since 1950s and early 1960s without loss of yield, profit of production, improves soil, and reduce soil. It helps crop rotation to life cycle through vegetables crops, and cover crops. It also have improved that it will reducing chemical input costs. Chemical pesticide are effective for control pests but the result will harmful environmental pollution due to air, water, soil and human beings. It must look for safety method to control pests.
   

   Figure 1 : The benefits of Crop Rotation

 

  Also that, the important thing on how to handle pests is by the effect of dispersal activity and survival dominant states ( eggs, spores) on how well crop rotation manage pests control. For example, it will attack crops of plant families or in the weeds in a wide range if cropping system. Even it also many pests cannot be managed by crop rotation alone. Additional information, the mobility of the pest and the persistence of domant pest life stages ( eggs, seeds, spores). It can generalized pests in the field through variety crops, and grower must used management technique to rotation for keeping them from reducing crop quality and productivity.

Figure 2 : Increasing of crop rotation

  Next, the insect must spend the period from the end of the crop to the beginning of next stage with low and have restricted range of host plants. Most of the pests have a period during adult stage. Many pests including corn ear worms, cabbage loppers, potato leaf hoppers, beetles, aphids and more.  However, example of pests corn root worm cannot survive on small grains, sorghum or weeds and it will survive only a very low level grassy weeds. This is because the adult beetles feed on corn skills and on many flowers and also their lay their eggs in soil in the base of corn plants. Most pests populations will decline in two to three years without a suitable host. Rotating to non host crops prevents the buildup of large populations pathogens.
                  

  However, there is a factors really need to be considered before rotating into another crop. First, plants that belongs to the same family often share the same pests problem. Even it rotated it will not achieve goal of reducing pathogen levels in soil. The farmers should classification which crop to rotate. For an example, cabbage and broccoli are different from another this is because they all belong to mustard family (Brassicaciae). And also share a same problem that is pests. It will not reduce any disease by rotating between those plants. In fact, it will increase the chance of problems with soil diseases such as black rot and Fusarium. It only will reduce the pests populations in the soil. According to research, pests in vegetables crop are difficult to manage this is because of unlimited food supply. Due to year around cultivation pests have sufficient food. Also lack of natural enemies, by environment for checking the pests population but in an enclosed structure most of it are cultivated vegetables.

  Field management practices can influence insect pest problems and overall rotation plan should take this into account. Mostly it written about corn and other field crops indicated no - till farming has mixed effect on various species with single field. Certain mobile insect pests may overwinter in crop residue will reduce their survival. For an example, European corn borer are insects that overwintering stages and can destroy by plowing. Because these species are all mobile adults will be emerge in the spring and effect the increased mortality but the timely plowing could reduce the size of the local population

  Beginning of the season, plowing are also can destroys winter annual or biennial weeds that can have a role in drawing insect pests. For an example, black cutworm moths lay their eggs early in the spring and prefer low lying, poorly drained. The caterpillars begin development on the weeds or cover crop. When those plants host are plowed and replaced by cash crop, the caterpillars attack the stem of new crop, and wait for 10-14 days has been allowed to starved them out before planting.. Movement between crops during the growing season is not only crop to crop but also how the crops will be laid out on the farm over the entire season. Also that, example of an Crucifer flea beetles (Phyllotreta cruciferae) pests that have multiple generations per year of same crop and increase of high population. While adult insect of beetles it have to find a new food plants for normal life stages. Example of other pests are from different host plants, build in large and move to another.
     

Figure 3 : An example of pests 

  Moreover, botanically are not related for crop rotating plants it will insure that non host crop are being used. Some of wide host range pests will be have problems or able to survive in the soil for such a long periods that need to control by considered it. The other way of manage insect pests to make a safety environment are by doing a mulching method. Mulching are recommended for reduce weeds, pests and diseases. Preventing weeds are one of the method that can get a better nutrient soil moisture. Example of mulching are plastic mulching,straw, bark and leaf. A lots of research have show that mulching have increase many vegetables crops. Plant diversity is also a method for reduced insect pest of main crop.

  Lastly, a few pests can be managed by crop rotation on a single farm but many more are influenced by farm management choices of whether want manage weeds, planting back, till, and crop planting in same field. This is because pests are so unpredictably in their overwintering dispersal, and host-finding strategies it is hard to identified cultural practice for prevent a problems of crops and pests. Important things are identifying the pests so that can easily prevent from damaged major crop on a farm and find a way of cultural method that interrupt the life cycle.  

Table 1: Organic weed management practices
Practice	Effect
Tillage	Kills growing weeds; damages perennial roots and rhizomes; buries seeds too deeply to emerge; brings weed seeds to surface.
Post-planting cultivation	Removes weeds from the crop.
Stale seedbed	Flushes weeds from the soil before planting.
Organic fertility sources	Favor crops over faster-growing weeds due to slow release of nutrients.
Drip irrigation	Directs water to the crop rather than to weeds.
Mulch (plastic, straw)	Smothers weeds: delays those that do emerge.
Transplanting small- seeded crops	Increases the competitive ability of the crop; allows earlier cultivation.
Planting competitive cultivars	Improves competitive ability of the crop against weeds.
Increased density and more uniform arrangement of crop plants	Tend to suppress weeds by early shading.
Rapid cleanup after harvest	Prevents seed set by residual weeds.
Planting cover crops	Suppresses weeds by competition when cash crops are not present; improves soil tilth, which increases effectiveness of cultivation.

References :

1) https://www.westernfarmpress.com/management/crop-rotation-method-disease-control 

2) Agronomy crop and cropping system, Isabelle Asallem, Retrieved by July 2012.

3) Sara slavikova, https://greentumble.com/10-benefits-of-crop-rotation/

4) How to Control Pests with Crop Rotation In Home Gardens http://sustainablegardeningnews.com/how-to-control-pests-with-crop-rotation-in-home-gardens/

Prepared by : NOR SHAHIRAH AISYAH BINTI MOHD AZHAR
ID NUMBER : 2018286786