Multiti-tier cropping system based on water availability

For laying out the fruit based multi-tier cropping system, suitable crop combinations should be decided based on the climatic and soil suitability, availability of irrigation facility and socio-economic requirements. For main crop, fruit plants with bigger size canopies like mango, litchi, aonla, etc. can be considered. For filler crop, the short stature plants with precocious and prolific bearing habit like guava, lemon, lime, custard apple, papaya etc. can be considered. Under rainfed conditions, crops like aonla or sapota or mango can be planted as main crop and custard apple or guava or lime etc can be planted as filler crops. Under irrigated conditions, litchi or mango can be planted as main crop and guava or lime or lemon or papaya can be planted as filler crop. For intercropping during the initial 10 years, different legumes like pegion pea, horse gram, blackgram, cowpea, French bean, millets, oilseeds like niger, ground nut, fodder like Stylosanthes, Dinanath grass etc. should be grown as kharif crops under rainfed conditions whereas high value crops like vegetables or flowers should be grown under irrigated conditions. After 10 years, shade tolerant crops like turmeric can be grown as intercrops.