Traditional cropping systems in northwestern Spain (Galicia)

Traditional crops and cropping systems in small-farm agriculture are the result of many years of evolution and selection by the farmers, generally directed towards self-consumption. These systems have been normally based on multiple cropping and intercropping and have been described in areas of Africa, America and Asia, but not generally in Europe. This paper presents the case of Galicia, a region, located in the northwestern corner of Spain, where traditional family land division and other sociological factors have led to a small-farm situation. Surveys conducted in Galicia previous to a thorough investigation of cropping systems show that multiple cropping and intercropping have been the basis of agricultural systems and they are still used extensively. At present, there are three basic crop rotations which differ in the degree of cropping intensity. The three rotations are the annual sequence of corn-Italian ryegrass (intercropped), a 2-year system consisting of corn or potatoes-wheat or rye-turnips and a 2-year system of rye (fallow). A variety of intermediate forms is found that can be considered as having evolved from the three basic rotations. The study also shows how climatic conditions and other factors such as soil fertility, type of farming and labour requirements affect cropping intensity and how the level of intensification influences the total annual dry matter yield per unit of land. These yields can vary from 17–21 t ha⁻¹ in rainfed conditions in the most intensive areas to 2·4 to 3·5 t ha⁻¹ in the rye (fallow) system. At present, the cropping systems of many areas of Galicia are rapidly changing toward a more commercial type of agriculture, because of technical, economic or sociological factors.