Grain Yield and Weed Biomass of a Wheat–Lentil Intercrop

Abstract

Intercropping cereal with pulse crops often increases total grain production in subtropical regions. Our objective was to determine if a yield advantage resulted when lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) was intercropped with wheat (Triticum aestivum L. emend. Theil.) in a cool semiarid region. A field experiment was conducted during 1989, 1990, and 1991 under dryland management in south central North Dakota. Lentil and hard red spring wheat were each sown alone and intercropped in different planting patterns and populations. Plants were hand clipped at the soil surface and threshed to provide grain yield estimates in all 3 yr. In 1991, grain was also harvested with a research combine to assess if intercrops could be harvested mechanically. Grain yield of wheat was unaffected by intercropping (P < 0.05). Intercropping reduced grain yield of lentil by 87 to 95% when yield estimates were based on samples harvested manually, and by 70 to 85% when samples were harvested mechanically. The increased height at which pods formed on intercropped compared with sole‐cropped lentil plants and subsequent enhancement in mechanical harvestability of grain in intercrops partially explains this difference in yield estimates between harvesting methods. The land equivalent ratio was 1.15 for grain yield across intercrop treatments with mechanical harvest, and 1.03 for the intercrop treatments when grain was harvested manually. While harvestability of the short‐statured lentil was enhanced in this investigation by intercropping, the low lentil yield under intercropping suggests that wheat‐lentil mixtures are probably not adapted to cool semiarid regions.

Yield potential and land-use efficiency of wheat and faba bean mixed intercropping

“…This also agrees with the findings of Carr et al (1995) for wheat/lentil intercrop, Bulson et al (1997) for wheat/field bean intercropping, Holland and Brummer (1999) for oat/berseem clover intercropping and Agegnehu et al (2006a, b) for barley/faba bean and tef/faba bean intercropping. The year by intercropping interaction effect was significant for faba bean grain yield.…”

Traditional agrodiversity management: A case study of central himalayan village ecosystem

“…The weed biomass values recorded during present studies concur with this aspect. Similar trends were also reported elsewhere (Carr et al 1995, Holland and Erhabur 1999, Bulson et al 1997, Agegnehu et al 2006b). Total human labor input in terms of man-hours by different sexes did not vary much between sole cropping and mixed cropping practices.…”

Review: Redesigning Canadian prairie cropping systems for profitability, sustainability, and resilience

“…There is limited documented research work on grain intercropping in the NGP and the results of this research are inconsistent. Overyielding and greater yield stability have been observed in some crop combinations and under some conditions, but not in others (Carr et al 1995(Carr et al , 2004Szumigalski and van Acker 2005;Kaut et al 2008;Pridham and Entz 2008;Hummel et al 2009;Nelson et al 2012).…”

“…In spite of a lack of clear evidence for increased yield, many studies report other benefits such as weed suppression (Carr et al 1995;Szumigalski and van Acker 2005;Pridham and Entz 2008;Nelson et al 2012), lower levels of plant disease (Vilich-Meller 1992;Jensen et al 2005;Pridham and Entz 2008;Hummel et al 2009), enhanced nutrient cycling (Szumigalski and van Acker 2006), and enhanced seed quality (Hummel et al 2009). Positive effects of intercropping on insect populations have not been observed in research from the prairie region (Weiss et al 1994;Butts et al 2003;Hummel et al 2009).…”