Monday 11 March 2013

Choosing the Right Combination of Crops - Food Crops v/s Cash Crops

In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we are going to see how to choose the Right Combination of Crops.


We have already seen 3 filters so far and in my view those are the very important filters for choosing the right combination of crops.  If that being the case, what is the new filter I am talking about?  Please see the difference between the previous filter titles and the current title.  In my previous titles, I have used "&" (a combination) and in this title, I have used "v/s" (exclusion).


What is meant by Food Crops & Cash Crops?

Food Crops - Generally, any crop that are consumed directly as food are considered Food Crops

For eg, Vegetables, Mango, Coconut, Sapota, Cereals, Millets etc

Cash Crops - Generally, any crop that are not consumed directly as food or any crop that is used as input and comes as output in some other form are considered Cash Crops

For eg, Sugarcane, Tobacco, Cotton, Flowers, Oil Seeds, Rubber, Tea, Coffee, Coleus, Vettiver etc


Is it necessity to have both Food Crops and Cash Crops?

Simply putting it, the main necessity is to have Food Crops and it is better to avoid the Cash Crops.

The main reason I have used "v/s" in the title is to re-inforce that it is not a combination but can be used sparingly.


When & Who should go for Cash Crops?

Any farmer whose very survival is already taken care of by Food Crops but would like to get additional (premium) income should opt for Cash Crops.

Putting it in another way, if your expenses are not dependent on the income generated by the farm, you can go for Cash Crops to a large extent subjecting to the filters already mentioned.


How much percentage of  Food Crops and Cash Crops are required?

While the Food Crops should be your main crop and a large portion need to be allocated to it, the Cash Crops can be limited to very little (less than 5%) of your total crops.

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