Greetings,
Here is a intercropping strategy that was highly success in Haiti this last grow season. Thanks to Ricardo Lopes for teaching it to us. Feel free to copy if you wish.
We love how the harvest came in multiple stages. It is specially fitting for those who live off the land and may have long dry seasons. The manioc is one of the last crops to harvest, but it can tolerate drought conditions for many weeks. No one is going hungry with this intercropping plan.
The poly-culture was truly protective against pests. For example we also added some cabbage in the rows (not in the design). A few meters away my farmer friend wanted to grow some more cabbage, mono-culture style. The cabbage in the intercropping section grew to maturity, untouched. The mono-culture cabbage was all eaten by some critters over the course of a couple nights.
It was a frustrating experience, but I can see it was valuable for my friend to see the difference.
Just in case those image files don’t upload, here is a link to my nonprofit’s facebook where I posted the same images:
Intercropping strategy for the tropics
Sincerely,
Roger