Coconut is an important horticultural crop which bears noteworthy influence on the livelihood security of small and marginal farmers across the nation. The contribution of coconut to the economy of Tamil Nadu is highly significant in terms of revenue generation and employment prospects. In the era of climate change, although coconut is a sensitive victim to a composite array of pests and diseases during the past years, rapid strides in agricultural research has helped the farmers achieve sustained yields without any depression in returns. But the frustrating fact in the recent past is the undulating farm gate prices of coconut leading to uncertain and poor income from coconut gardens and the associated exploitation by the middle men. Hence accommodation of suitable intercrops becomes indispensable for augmenting the income of coconut growers.

Paucity of information on the prospects and perils of intercropping with suitable perennial, biennial and seasonal crops have motivated us to bring out the book entitled “Coconut based cropping / farming systems research”. Extensive survey was conducted across the state to congregate information on the package of practices adopted for the main crop and the intercrop, merits and demerits of intercropping systems, production economics and the opinions of the farmers on systems approach. Farmers can use this compendium for appropriate choice of intercrops in coconut gardens so as to augment their revenue.