2 



(16^, 175)' By selecting adapted cultivars, many vegetable crops can 

 be grown sequentially (63). For instance, promising cultivars of cru- 

 cifers, cucurbits, leguminous, leaf, bulb, and solaJiaceous crops produced 

 high marketable yields in Gainesville (61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 6?). 



These studies report only the management system of an individual 

 crop from planting to harvesting without considering interactions 

 between crops within cropping and farm management systems. Most of these 

 studies are specialized, narrow in scope, and often oriented to a speci- 

 fic discipline. In contrast, cropping systems research involves the 

 study of cropping patterns and their interaction with farm resources, 

 other farm enterprises, and available technology on a year-round crop- 

 ping basis (5, 68, 138). 



Since different vegetable crops respond to different levels of 

 management, research methods such as the cropping systems approach 

 which integrates crop production with farmer's majiagement capabilities 

 are needed to develop appropriate technologies. The objectives of "his 

 study were to (a) evaluate productivity, resource use, and profitability 

 of several vegetable crops planted in four cropping patterns for North 

 Florida, (b) determine and evaluate the influence of crop and fertiliser 

 msLnagement levels on productivity, income, and nutrient levels in soil 

 from four vegetable cropping patterns, and (c) develop appropriate crop 

 and fertilizer management practices for sequential cropping patterns. 

 The principles and methodology developed from this reseaxch study can 

 be used in both developing and developed countries where small-scale 

 farmers have limited resources and low energy technologies. 



