intercrop
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of intercrop
Explanation
People who want to get the most possible gardening done in a small plot of land might choose to intercrop. This is when you plant multiple crops in the same space, often in alternating rows. There are different ways to intercrop. Over different parts of North America, indigenous people plant corn and beans together in mounds and then, between the mounds, plant squash. Along with very slow-growing plants like fruit trees, you can plant fast-growing plants like leafy greens, harvesting the greens while waiting for the fruit trees to mature. These techniques help grow more food in less space, and can also be good for the soil's health. An intercrop is also what we call a crop that is grown between rows of another crop.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Cultivation programs vary according to the intercrop grown.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948 by Northern Nut Growers Association
Other crops that work well intercropped with edible mulch are similarly lanky, nonspreading plants like corn, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, to name a few.
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2013
The new plant might survive but cause other crops with which it is intercropped to have lower yields because of the way it uses and/or soil nutrients or because of the pests it might attract.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 29, 2012
It is needless to say that the crop from such a poor, intercropped orchard would be meagre and unprofitable until the methods were changed.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fourteenth Annual Meeting Washington D.C. September 26, 27 and 28 1923 by Northern Nut Growers Association
Especially is this true of an orchard which is being intercropped.
From Apple Growing by Burritt, M. C.
They add that knowledge of horizontal transfer mechanisms and putative donor taxa might help to design future intercropping strategies that minimize the risk of transfer of effector genes between closely related Fusarium taxa.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024
Cultures throughout human history have had their own favored intercropping systems with similar synergies, such as tumeric and mango or millet, cowpea and ziziphus, commonly known as red date.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2023
“We use to take walks to the hills and tend to our milpas,” Aguilar said about the traditional intercropping system of regional vegetables practiced throughout Mexico and in Central America.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2022
Some farmers went further, experimenting with vegetable intercropping patterns.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 22, 2021
And the intercropping is to more than pay for that.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Second Annual Meeting Ithaca, New York, December 14 and 15, 1911 by Northern Nut Growers Association
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
