ABSTRACT
The single-species nature of crop systems can be broken by growing crops in polycultural patterns. Polycultures are systems in which two or more crops are usually planted simultaneously and sufficiently close together to result in interspecific competition and/or complementation. These interactions may have inhibiting or stimulatory effects on yields (Hart, 1974). In the design and management of these systems, one strategy is to minimize competition and maximize complementation among species in the mixture (Francis, Flor, and Temple, 1976). Among the potential advantages that can emerge from the intelligent design of polycultures are population reduction of insect pests, suppression of weeds through shading by complex canopies or allelopathy (Gliessman and Amador, 1980), better use of soil nutrients (Igzoburkie, 1971), and improved productivity per unit of land (Harwood, 1974).
