Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) is the standard way agronomists check whether growing two crops together on one field actually beats growing them separately, and this question asks what LER value counts as a genuine benefit.
- Equal to 1.0: this means the combined yield from intercropping needs exactly as much land as separate sole crops would need for the same output, so there is no saving and no advantage.
- Less than 1.0: this means intercropping actually needs more total land than sole cropping to reach the same yield, so the system performed worse, not better.
- Greater than 1.0: this means intercropping produces the same combined yield using less land than two sole crops would need, which is exactly the land saving that makes intercropping worth doing.
- Zero: this would mean no usable yield came from the system at all, which is clearly not a beneficial result.
Since a value above 1.0 is the only case where intercropping outperforms sole cropping in land use terms, that is the condition for calling the system beneficial.
Let's summarize:
- LER equal to 1.0 means no advantage over sole cropping.
- LER greater than 1.0 means intercropping saves land and is beneficial.
So the correct answer is LER greater than 1.0, option (3).