Editing Crop rotation (section)

=== Polyculture ===

{{main |Polyculture}}

[[Polyculture]] systems, such as [[intercropping]] or [[companion planting]], offer more diversity and complexity within the same season or rotation. An example is the [[Three Sisters (agriculture)|Three Sisters]], the inter-planting of corn with pole beans and vining squash or pumpkins. In this system, the beans provide nitrogen; the corn provides support for the beans and a "screen" against squash vine borer; the vining squash provides a weed suppressive canopy and a discouragement for corn-hungry raccoons.<ref name="dufourNCAT"/>

Double-cropping is common where two crops, typically of different species, are grown sequentially in the same growing season, or where one crop (e.g. vegetable) is grown continuously with a cover crop (e.g. wheat).<ref name="NRCS"/> This is advantageous for small farms, which often cannot afford to leave cover crops to replenish the soil for extended periods of time, as larger farms can. When multiple cropping is implemented on small farms, these systems can maximize benefits of crop rotation on available land resources.<ref name="johnson2009"/>