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Relay cropping is a form of intercropping where two or more crops are grown simultaneously during part of their life cycles. Intercropping often involves maize and legumes, which increases nitrogen fixing in soils and increased biomass production. The second (or succeeding) crop is planted after the reproductive stage (flowering) of the existing crop but before harvesting. Some of the advantages of relay cropping include better erosion control due to crop cover, reduced spreading of pests and diseases, and crop diversification, plus general soil health. As an added benefit, it mitigates the emission of greenhouse gases through reducing nitrate leaching and increasing carbon sequestration. There is also potential socio-economic benefits for farmers as in many cases relay cropping increases crop productivity.

However, this form of intercropping is not easily implemented in large-scale agricultural systems due to complications in weed control and challenges associated with operating mechanised equipment on fields with relay cropping.

Intercropping is a process of growing multiple crops either together or in proximity to each other on one piece of land, thereby improving crop production, reducing and preventing land degradation and increasing crop output.

There are different methods of intercropping:

• Mixed intercropping – two or more crops are seeded together and harvested together.
• Row/strip intercropping – two or more crops planted on the same field but planted in alternate rows.

Crops selected for intercropping should not have similar properties or compete but should be selected to complement one another and be mutually beneficial. For example, deep rooted crops can be intercropped with shallow rooted crops, so as to not compete for water or nutrients. Intercropping helps achieve ecological benefits not possible with monocropping systems. Intercropping is commonly practiced for maize-legume systems, where legumes introduce nitrogen into the soil benefiting maize production and improving soil fertility during crop growth. Furthermore, the legume crops can be utilised for fodder for livestock. This practice is particularly beneficial for smallholder farmers, who can grow multiple crops on small plots to receive multiple benefits including improving production/yields, and increasing household food security. Intercropping is also a climate-smart practice as it mitigates farmer risk to climate variations, through diversifying and increasing crop production, reduces threats of pests and disease, and increases carbon sequestration in soils and biomass production.

Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) refers to a set of agricultural practices that can be applied simultaneously to improve agricultural productivity through increasing soil nutrients and improving crop water use. ISFM includes a broad range of agricultural practices that have all been adapted to local conditions to improve soil nutrients and include the combined application of the following approaches:

1. Utilisation of organic fertilisers such as green manure, compost and crop residues.
2. Application of locally available soil amendment methods, such as lime and biochar.
3. Implementation of techniques like germplasm, agroforestry, crop rotation, intercropping etc.
4. Limited use of inorganic or mineral fertilisers – seen as the last option in ISFM, when other interventions are not achieving optimal results.

ISFM can be successful for most arable farmers and has been known to double productivity and increase farm-level incomes by 20 to 50 percent if implemented correctly. It focuses on a series of practical approaches to sustainable farm productivity through locally available and affordable options for maintaining soil fertility and productivity, and is seen as a viable approach to reduce over-reliance on inorganic fertiliser. ISFM permits short- and long-term increases in productivity of cash crops and food security, and is considered climate smart as the combined ISFM approach maximises fertiliser uptake and sequestration of carbon in soil, allowing sustainable agricultural intensification driven by improved soil structure and fertility.

Green manure (otherwise known as cover crops), is a climate smart fertiliser process that involves growing plants (mainly legumes) and distributing uprooted or sown crop-parts to wither and cover soil. It provides soil coverage to enhance biological, physical and chemical properties of soil while mitigating soil erosion, supressing weed growth, adding biomass to soils, improving soil structures, promoting biological soil preparation, and reducing pests, diseases and weed growth. These functions can increase economic return, reduce the need for herbicides and pesticides, while increasing productivity and potentially the quality of crops. It can also increase soil nitrogen, improve soil fertility, conserve soil humidity and reduce fertiliser costs. Green manure also has low management costs, presents good conservation characteristics, and improves biodiversity. Green manure is a feasible and sustainable option for farmers to improve soil quality and productivity, depending on local context and availability of different leguminous plants that best fit for farmers’ cropping systems. Examples of leguminous plants that can be used in southern Africa include: Mucuna (Mucuna pruriens); Sunhemp (Crotalaria juncea), Lab-lab (Lablab purpureus); Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan); Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea). Green manure has climate smart benefits as contributes to sustainable maintenance of agricultural production without the use of chemical fertilisers and depending upon the cover crop can contribute to adaptation of agricultural practices to climate change. Furthermore, coverage of soil with additional plant material can assist with carbon sequestration in soil. Not only does growing a secondary green manure crop provide a soil amendment benefit, but the crop can also be used as fodder for livestock. As the most common green manure plants are legumes, the pods and seeds can be fed to livestock while leaving the crop residue to perform the cover crop function in in the fields.