Forage Yield, Growth Rate, and Nitrogen Uptake of Faba Bean Intercrops with Wheat, Barley, and Rye in Three Seeding Ratios

Abstract

Annual cool-season grain legumes like faba bean (Vicia faba L.) grown in mixtures with winter cereals such as wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), or rye (Secale cereale L.) may offer advantages over cerealalone crops grown for forage production. A 2-yr fi eld study was conducted to evaluate the effects of intercropping faba bean with each of the above cereals in three seeding ratios (i.e., 75:25, 50:50, and 75:25) on growth rate, plant height, chlorophyll content, forage yield, and N uptake. Growth rate of faba bean and cereals was lower in the mixtures than in the monocultures, especially in the faba bean-barley mixtures because of the strong competitive ability of barley. Chlorophyll content was lower in faba bean compared with the cereals, and there was no difference among seeding ratios. Plant height of faba bean was higher in the intercrops compared with its monocrop at 3 wk after tillering (WAT), whereas at 6 WAT, the trend was different since faba bean plants in the monocrop were higher than in the intercrops. Rye monocrop and rye-faba bean intercrops provided the greatest forage yield. Although the three intercrops of faba bean with rye had lower crude protein (CP) content than the faba bean monocrop, they provided the highest CP yields per hectare because of their higher forage yield than the faba bean monocrop.

Agronomic performance of naked oat (Avena nuda L.) and faba bean intercropping

“…A wide use of faba bean intercropping is used for seed and forage production (Lithourgidis and Dordas, 2010;Dhima et al, 2013). One of the factors affecting faba bean yield and its quality in intercropping system is the selection of companion crop and the seeding ratios (Dordas and Lithourgidis, 2011).…”

Nitrogen leaching and residual effect of barley/field bean intercropping

“…Forage obtained from cereal/ legume intercrops (IC) always has a higher quality than that of cereal sole crops (SC), while dry matter yield advantage varies, due to large differences in growth conditions (Dordas and Lithourgidis 2011). Intercrop yield is generally between that of SC (Carr et al 2004, Strydhorst et al 2008, or higher than both of them (Karpenstein-Machan and Stuelpnagel 2000, Ghanbari-Bonjar and Lee 2003, Lithourgidis and Dordas 2010, Mariotti et al 2012. According to Pursiainen and Tuori (2008), also silage produced from a cereal/pulse legume mixture has a higher nutritive value compared to that produced only from cereals, due to the higher concentration of crude protein, a higher degradability of nutrients and a better balance of protein and energy for rumen microbes.…”

“…Limited research has been carried out on barley/ field bean intercropping for forage production (Strydhorst et al 2008, Lithourgidis andDordas 2010), and to the best of our knowledge no one has studied its N leaching and residual effects so far. This is despite the fact that both crops have broad environmental adaptability, almost simultaneously reach the optimal growth stage for ensilage, and provide a high quality feed (Carr et al 2004, Köpke andNemecek 2010).…”

Evaluation of Quantitative and Qualitative Traits of Forage Sorghum and Lima Bean under Different Nitrogen Fertilizer Regimes in Additive - Replacement Series

“…Intercropping maize and soybean resulted to a higher crude protein content compared with maize sole cropping (Toniolo, Sattin and Mosca, 1987). Intercropping beans with wheat enhanced forage dry matter compared with bean sole crop and also enhanced crude protein, neutral detergent fibre content, and water-soluble carbohydrates compared with beans and wheat sole crops (Ghanbari-Bonjar and Lee, 2002;Lithourgidis and Dordas, 2010). The crude protein yield, dry matter yield, and ash content of maize forage increased by intercropping legumes compared with maize monoculture (Javanmard, Nasab, Javanshir, Moghaddam and Janmohammadi, 2009).…”