Tobacco cropping system

• The chief consideration in determining the cropping system is the effect of previous crop on the quantity and quality of tobacco and incidence of disease.
• Tobacco is susceptible to root-knot nematodes and other root and collar rot pathogens, thus nematode susceptible crops such as cowpeas, soybeans and sweet potatoes should not be included in the rotation.
• Tobacco should not be cultivated after tomatoes, sunflower and other crops which have the diseases and pests in common.
• Moreover, it must also be considered that cultivating tobacco on the same land for years results in very severe incidence of mosaic virus and Orobanche cernua (Broom rape).
• Crops with which tobacco is more successful includes corn, cotton, and small grains.
• Flue-cured tobacco that follows corn, cotton and small grain is of excellent leaf quality.
• When grown after legumes the tobacco ranges from poor to good.
• For tobacco grown following legumes can appreciably increase in quality when nitrogen fertilization is reduced or heavy application of potash are made to balance the deleterious effects of excess nitrogen left over by the legumes.
• The best type of crop rotation is to plant tobacco in the dry season and maize in the humid season.