The Interpretation and Design of Intercrop Systems Involving Environmental Modification by One of the Components: A Theoretical Framework

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Abstract
A theoretical framework is developed for the incorporation of a secondary crop species with a principal crop species to form an intercrop. Specific attention is given to the situation in which the secondary crop acts to modify the environment of the first. The combination of competition and environmental modification creates a series of potential cropping systems which could be employed. The nature of the decision criterion used by the farmer in combination with the pattern of occurrence of the environmental factor then stipulates which of these potential systems will be optimal. The collection of potential systems, the “potential set,” is represented as a set of points in the space of the yield of the principal crop in the presence of the environmental factor versus in the absence of the environmental factor. The farmer's decision criterion and the pattern of occurrence of the environmental factor (the environmental grain) are stipulated as a function in this same space (the adaptive function). The adaptive function can then be used to find the optimal point on the potential set. General conditions under which monoculture, intercrop, or mono-poly strategies are optimal are discussed as well as the potential for using the theory in a more quantitative manner when sufficiently precise data are available.