Editing Crop rotation (section)

{{Short description |Agricultural practice of changing crops}}
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{{Use dmy dates |date=October 2023}}
[[File:Plodozmian.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Effects of crop rotation and [[monoculture]] at the Swojec Experimental Farm, [[Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences]]. In the front field, the "Norfolk" crop rotation sequence (potatoes, oats, peas, rye) is being applied; in the back field, rye has been grown for 58 years in a row.]]
{{Agriculture}}
'''Crop rotation''' is the practice of growing a series of different types of [[crop]]s in the same area across a sequence of growing [[season]]s. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the probability of developing resistant pests and weeds.

Growing the same crop in the same place for many years in a row, known as [[monocropping]], gradually depletes the [[soil]] of certain [[nutrient]]s and promotes the proliferation of specialized pest and weed populations adapted to that crop system. Without balancing nutrient use and diversifying pest and weed communities, the productivity of monocultures is highly dependent on external inputs that may be harmful to the soil's fertility. Conversely, a well-designed crop rotation can reduce the need for [[Fertilizer|synthetic fertilizers]] and [[herbicide]]s by better using [[ecosystem services]] from a diverse set of crops. Additionally, crop rotations can improve [[soil structure]] and [[Soil organic matter|organic matter]], which reduces erosion and increases farm system resilience.