**4. Mixed cropping**

Cassava is widely cultivated as a single crop in Thailand and southern Brazil, but intercropping is done by small-scale farmers in many parts of the tropics. Small scale farmers do normally produce early crops such as common beans, mung beans, peanuts, corn, upland rice, and various types of grain legumes between the Cassava rows. This method has many advantages. It protects the soil from the direct effects of rain, reduces soil erosion due to runoff, and limits weed growth in the early stages of cassava development. Intercropping also produces crops that can be harvested at different times of the year, increasing total net income per unit area and reducing the risk of total crop failure. For example, in southwestern Nigeria, corn and cassava are often cultivated at the beginning of the twice-yearly rainy season. Corn is harvested during a short rain break, after which cassava continues alone. The two plants have different pest and disease and growth requirements, so if one fails, the other can survive.
