Diversified legume-based crop rotation strategies for enhancing crop yield - A comprehensive review

Crop rotation is a cornerstone practice in sustainable agriculture, it plays a crucial role in enhancing soil fertility, pest and disease management and overall crop productivity. This review is to optimize crop rotation strategies for improving the yield and sustainability of black gram (Vigna mungo L.), a pulse crop highly responsive to rotational practices. By synthesizing recent research, the study examines the effects of crop sequences, intercropping systems and legume-non-legume integrations on both crop productivity and soil health. Methodologically, it adopts a critical evaluation of existing literature to analyze the mechanisms underlying synergistic and antagonistic crop interactions, while also considering modern approaches such as precision agriculture and agroecological principles for refining crop rotation. The key conclusions highlight that crop rotation not only enhances soil fertility and productivity but also plays a pivotal role in pest and disease management. Furthermore, intercropping and integration with non-leguminous crops significantly improve black gram growth and yield while sustaining soil quality. The review emphasizes that precision-driven and ecologically grounded strategies present promising opportunities for fine-tuning rotations and future research to further adapt and refine these approaches for sustainable legume production.