monocropping
One crop only
Monocropping is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop on the same land year after year.
While efficient for large-scale farming, it depletes soil nutrients and increases vulnerability to pests and disease: Monocropping has exhausted the soil in this region.
The term often carries critical connotations in discussions of industrial agriculture and sustainability.
Cereal grown on cobs
- soybeansProtein-rich Asian legume
- wheatCereal crop for flour
- cottonPlant fiber for textiles
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
industrial farming · agribusiness · large-scale · mechanization · homogeneity · canola · sugarcane · palm oil
Loss of ground fertility
- erosionGradual wearing away
- nutrient depletionLoss of essential substances
- biodiversity lossReduction in species variety
- herbicide resistanceImmunity to plant-killing chemicals
pollinator decline · chemical runoff · habitat destruction · soil compaction · superweeds · dead zones
Multi-species crop system
- intercroppingSimultaneous multi-crop cultivation
- agroforestryTrees integrated with farming
- companion plantingGrowing compatible plants together
- permacultureSustainable ecosystem design method
organic farming · agroecology · sustainable agriculture · green manure · conservation tillage
corn
Cereal grown on cobs
plantation · industrial farming · agribusiness · large-scale · mechanization · homogeneity · canola · sugarcane · palm oil · rice paddies
soil depletion
Loss of ground fertility
- erosionGradual wearing away
- nutrient depletionLoss of essential substances
- biodiversity lossReduction in species variety
herbicide resistance · pollinator decline · chemical runoff · habitat destruction · soil compaction · superweeds · dead zones
polyculture
Multi-species crop system
- intercroppingSimultaneous multi-crop cultivation
- agroforestryTrees integrated with farming
- companion plantingGrowing compatible plants together
permaculture · organic farming · agroecology · sustainable agriculture · green manure · conservation tillage
- farm problemssoil erosion, soil depletion, water pollution, fertilizer runoff, overgrazing
- crop rotationfallow period
- soil degradationsoil erosion, soil depletion, nutrient depletion, desertification, salinization
monocroppingpolyculture
Multi-species crop system
crop rotation · intercropping · companion planting · agroforestry · strip cropping
monocroppingpermaculture
Sustainable ecosystem design method
sustainable agriculture · organic farming · agroecology · traditional farming · subsistence farming
crop, crops, cropped, cropping, mono, monoculture, monocultural, monocultures