Economic Performance and Sustainability of a Novel Intercropping System on the North China Plain

Double cropping of wheat and maize is common on the North China Plain, but it provides limited income to rural households due to the small farm sizes in the region. Local farmers in Quzhou County have therefore innovated their production system by integration of watermelon as a companion cash crop i...

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Published in:PloS one 2015-08, Vol.10 (8), p.e0135518-e0135518
Main Authors: Huang, Chengdong, Liu, Quanqing, Heerink, Nico, Stomph, TjeerdJan, Li, Baoshen, Liu, Ruili, Zhang, Hongyan, Wang, Chong, Li, Xiaolin, Zhang, Chaochun, van der Werf, Wopke, Zhang, Fusuo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural economics
Agricultural practices
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Cash crops
China
Citrullus
competition
Corn
Crop Production - economics
Crop Production - methods
crop productivity
Crop yield
Cropping systems
Crops
Crops, Agricultural - economics
Crops, Agricultural - growth & development
diversity
Double cropping
Economic aspects
Economic conditions
Environmental risk
Farm income
Farmers
Farms
fertilizer
Fertilizers
Food security
Food supply
Households
Humans
Intercropping
Irrigation water
Labor
n management
nutrient-use efficiency
Population
Poverty
reducing environmental risk
resource use
Rural areas
Rural poverty
Science
Small farms
Surveys
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Systems analysis
Water use
Wheat
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cited_by cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c743t-3910280128bc3c7b80e875e4fe8ff28017434a3404ac667e78cb9943d51694ac3
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container_issue 8
container_start_page e0135518
container_title PloS one
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creator Huang, Chengdong
Liu, Quanqing
Heerink, Nico
Stomph, TjeerdJan
Li, Baoshen
Liu, Ruili
Zhang, Hongyan
Wang, Chong
Li, Xiaolin
Zhang, Chaochun
van der Werf, Wopke
Zhang, Fusuo
description Double cropping of wheat and maize is common on the North China Plain, but it provides limited income to rural households due to the small farm sizes in the region. Local farmers in Quzhou County have therefore innovated their production system by integration of watermelon as a companion cash crop into the system. We examine the economic performance and sustainability of this novel intercropping system using crop yield data from 2010 to 2012 and farm household survey data collected in 2012. Our results show that the gross margin of the intercropping system exceeded that of the double cropping system by more than 50% in 2012. Labor use in the intercropping system was more than three times that in double cropping. The lower returns per labor hour in intercropping, however, exceeded the average off-farm wage in the region by a significant margin. Nutrient surpluses and irrigation water use are significant larger under the intercropping system. We conclude that the novel wheat-maize/watermelon intercropping system contributes to rural poverty alleviation and household-level food security, by raising farm incomes and generating more employment, but needs further improvement to enhance its sustainability.
doi_str_mv 10.1371/journal.pone.0135518
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Local farmers in Quzhou County have therefore innovated their production system by integration of watermelon as a companion cash crop into the system. We examine the economic performance and sustainability of this novel intercropping system using crop yield data from 2010 to 2012 and farm household survey data collected in 2012. Our results show that the gross margin of the intercropping system exceeded that of the double cropping system by more than 50% in 2012. Labor use in the intercropping system was more than three times that in double cropping. The lower returns per labor hour in intercropping, however, exceeded the average off-farm wage in the region by a significant margin. Nutrient surpluses and irrigation water use are significant larger under the intercropping system. We conclude that the novel wheat-maize/watermelon intercropping system contributes to rural poverty alleviation and household-level food security, by raising farm incomes and generating more employment, but needs further improvement to enhance its sustainability.</abstract><cop>United States</cop><pub>Public Library of Science</pub><pmid>26275297</pmid><doi>10.1371/journal.pone.0135518</doi><oa>free_for_read</oa></addata></record>
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identifier ISSN: 1932-6203
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1932-6203
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source Open Access: PubMed Central; ProQuest - Publicly Available Content Database
subjects Agricultural economics
Agricultural practices
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Cash crops
China
Citrullus
competition
Corn
Crop Production - economics
Crop Production - methods
crop productivity
Crop yield
Cropping systems
Crops
Crops, Agricultural - economics
Crops, Agricultural - growth & development
diversity
Double cropping
Economic aspects
Economic conditions
Environmental risk
Farm income
Farmers
Farms
fertilizer
Fertilizers
Food security
Food supply
Households
Humans
Intercropping
Irrigation water
Labor
n management
nutrient-use efficiency
Population
Poverty
reducing environmental risk
resource use
Rural areas
Rural poverty
Science
Small farms
Surveys
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Systems analysis
Water use
Wheat
title Economic Performance and Sustainability of a Novel Intercropping System on the North China Plain
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