63 

 planting in June which subjected the crop to hi^ rainfall and 

 temperature. Mustard responded equally to fertilizer levels (Table lO) . 



F-esource Utilization of Cropping Patterns 



Labor profile . Cropping pattern HM-HM-HM was characterized by 

 thj:ee labor peaks (Fig. 8). Planting and har/esting constituted 30 

 and 50?S, respectively, of the total labor requirements. The high labor 

 required for planting and harvesting was due to manjr hours required 

 for transplanting collard, handseeding pole bean, and multiple harvests 

 of both crops. 



Cropping patterns IM-LM-LM, HM-MM-IM, and HM-LM-MM were character- 

 ized by only one labor peak for harvesting (Fig. 8). However, labor 

 required for harvesting in cropping pattern LM-IM-LM was equal to 

 HM-HM-HM because of multiple harvests of three successive vegetable 

 legume crops. 



Vegetable growers who have limited year-round labor resources 

 should grow a combination of LM, MM, and HM crops where labor demands 

 are low and evenly distributed throughout the year. Growers who have 

 abundant labor and cash can probably benefit by growing HM vegetable 

 crops in their year-round cropping patterns. Growers who have abundant 

 labor 'out are limited in cash resource may have an advantage by growing 

 a sequence of LM vegetable crops. 



Production costs . For each cropping pattern, fertilizer levels 

 had no influence on production costs (Table 11). Therefore, cropping 

 patterns were compared based on mean production cost across fertilizer 

 levels. Cropping pattern HT'l-HM-HM required the highest total mean 



