Intercropping LER & Is Your Intercrop Worth It?
Compares two crops
Enter the intercrop and sole-crop yields of two crops to get the Land Equivalent Ratio, the land you save and the monetary advantage — see if growing them together beats growing them apart.
Enter your yields
Next: if LER < 1, widen the row ratio or pick a less competitive companion; if > 1.2, this pairing is a keeper.
LER is the standard ICAR / FAO intercropping productivity index: partial LER = intercrop yield ÷ sole yield; total LER = the sum. Yields must come from the same season and management.
Intercropping LER — key facts
- Partial LER
- intercrop yield ÷ sole yield
- LER
- partial LER A + partial LER B
- LER > 1
- intercrop uses land better
- Land saved
- (1 − 1/LER) × 100 %
- Strong gain
- LER above ~1.2
- Good pairs
- tall cereal + short legume
- Money check
- intercrop return vs best sole crop
- Privacy
- Runs in your browser; nothing uploaded
Two crops, one field — does it pay?
Intercropping — growing two crops together in the same field — can squeeze more food and income from the same land, spread risk and improve the soil. But only if the crops cooperate more than they compete. The Land Equivalent Ratio is the proven way to tell: it compares what you harvest from a unit of intercropped land against what the same crops would yield grown separately. An LER above 1 means the mixture wins.
This tool turns your measured yields into the LER, each crop's partial LER, the land you save and the monetary advantage. Use it to compare pairings, tune your row ratio, and prove the value of intercropping before you scale it up. Pair it with the Companion Planting Checker, Plant Spacing and Crop Rotation tools to design the rest of the system.
Prove the advantage
Turn two yields into a single fair land-use score.
See land saved
Know exactly how much land the mixture saves.
Check the money
Land-efficient isn't always cash — see both.
Tune the pairing
Compare partial LERs to fix a suppressed crop.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER)?+
LER is the total land area you would need under sole cropping to produce the yields you get from one unit of intercropped land. It is the sum of each crop's partial LER (its intercrop yield divided by its sole-crop yield). An LER of 1.6 means sole crops would need 60% more land to match your intercrop — a clear advantage.
How is LER calculated?+
Partial LER of a crop = intercrop yield ÷ sole-crop yield. LER = partial LER of crop A + partial LER of crop B. For example, maize at 4 t (intercrop) vs 5 t (sole) gives 0.8, and cowpea at 0.8 t vs 1.0 t gives 0.8, so LER = 1.6. This tool does it for you and also shows the land saved and money advantage.
What LER value means intercropping is worth it?+
LER greater than 1 means intercropping uses land more efficiently than growing the crops separately. Above about 1.2 it is a strong, reliable advantage; around 1.0 it is roughly equal; below 1.0 the crops are competing too much and sole cropping would yield more per unit area.
What is land saved %?+
Land saved = (1 − 1/LER) × 100. With an LER of 1.6, you save 37.5% of land — that's the extra area sole cropping would need to produce the same output. It's a direct way to express the efficiency gain of intercropping.
Does a higher LER always mean more profit?+
Not always — LER measures land-use efficiency, not money. A pairing can have LER > 1 yet earn less if one crop is low-value. That's why this tool also computes the monetary advantage: the intercrop's total gross return minus the better sole crop's return, so you see both efficiency and cash.
What is a partial LER?+
The partial LER is one crop's contribution to the total — its intercrop yield as a fraction of its sole-crop yield. Comparing the two partial LERs shows which crop dominates the mixture; a very unbalanced pair (one near 1.0, the other near 0.2) means one crop is being suppressed.
Which crops intercrop well?+
Pairs that use resources differently: a tall cereal with a short legume (maize + cowpea/groundnut), a deep-rooted crop with a shallow one, or a long-duration crop with a quick catch crop. Legumes also fix nitrogen, helping the companion. Aim for an LER above 1.15 in your own trials.
What row ratio should I use?+
Start with the recommended ratio for your pair (often 2:1 or 1:1 cereal:legume) and adjust. If one crop's partial LER is very low, give it more rows or wider spacing so it isn't shaded or crowded out. Re-run this calculator with your measured yields each season to tune the ratio.
Can I use any yield unit?+
Yes — use any consistent unit (t/acre, t/ha, kg/plot) as long as you use the SAME unit for a crop's intercrop and sole yields. LER is a ratio, so the units cancel. For the monetary advantage, enter prices per that same yield unit.
Is LER a recognised measure?+
Yes — LER is the standard index for evaluating intercropping in agronomy research and extension (used by ICAR, FAO and universities worldwide). It lets you compare very different crop combinations on a single, fair land-use scale.