by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: April 08, 2009   Last Updated: April 18, 2010

For any organic gardener, nothing is more crucial to the success of their crop than proper crop rotation. In essence, crop rotation is the practice of growing different crops in the same place in sequential seasons. The purpose, at least in part, if to prevent a build up of soil born pathogens and pests who may be host specific, (meaning, they feed on the same crop,) from destroying a crop.

In the past, crop rotation was a normal part of farming, but ever since the 1950's, modern technological advances that are available to farmers have made it possible to replace the practice of crop rotation with the use of synthetic fertilizers as a way to provide the crop with nutrients. They use chemical to kill weeds and control insect and pest problems.

If we look at history, the Irish potato famine is an example of what can happen to soil when monoculture is continuously practiced. Monoculture is the practice of planting the same crop in the same place. The situation with the Irish potato famine was caused by a pathogenic fungus that spread throughout the soil because the farmers hadn't done anything to prevent its spread. It is a perfect example of one of the ways through which crop rotation can be beneficial.

When the same crops are planted in the same place over and over again, the plants leach nutrients out of the soil, and the more this is done, the less fertile the soil will become, and the less fertile the soil is, the faster it will erode. In farming, the use of crop rotation makes it possible to plant the fields almost continuously. As an example, we can use a rice crop. Rice stem borers feed on rice.

If one were to plant rice in the same place time after time, they would provide the rice borer with a continuous supply of food, and the result would either be a total crop loss or a less than desirable harvest. But, if corn, beans and legumes were planted in successive seasons in place of the rice, the rice stem borer would have to food, so it would have to go elsewhere to find food, or die of starvation.

Ideally, crop rotation will balance the fertility demands of different crops, and in the process, prevent the total depletion of soil nutrients. Traditionally, crop rotation was designed to put nitrogen back into the soil by using green manure in sequence with cover crops and other crops. When practiced properly, crop rotation can actually improve the structure and fertility of the soil. Proper practice means that shallow rooted plants need to alternate with

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