Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium L.) Intercropping in Tunisia: Effects in Water Consumption and Water Use Efficiency

Abstract

This experiment was carried out at the Technical Center of Potato (C.T.P) situated in the low valley of Medjerda river at Tunisia, during two growing seasons (2006-2007) and (2008-2009). It aims at evaluating the effect of intercropping potato (Solanum tuberosum cv. Spunta) and sulla (Hedysarum coronarium L. cv. Bikra 21) grown under 1:1 intercropping row arrangement and sole cropping on water consumption and water use efficiency of one potato variety and one sulla variety. In addition, land equivalent ratio (LER) was determined to assess the efficiency of the intercropping system. Intercropping had no significant effect on the above parameters and tuber dry biomass production of potato and sulla. However, it increased the total dry biomass of the intercropping system. This increase occurred during the two cultivating seasons of 2007 and 2009 respectively from 12.5 to 14.8% compared to the potato in sole cropping. Intercropping has led to a similar reduction of water consumption (WC) of both crops. This reduction was 36 and 28% for 2007 and 2009 seasons respectively and for both crops. However, intercropping has led to an increase in the overall (WC) of the mixed system by 9.1 and 13.8% in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) has been improved from 35.4 to 45.6% for potato in sole intercropping and from 25 to 37.5% for sulla intercropped. The values of total LER were higher than one, which indicates the superiority of intercropping system over the sole cropping system.

Turning biennial into biannual harvest: Long‐term assessment of Arabica coffee–macadamia intercropping and irrigation synergism by biological and economic indices

“…Under intercropping, crops can achieve a more effective complementarity in the use of environmental resources such as land (Gitari et al, 2020; Maitra et al, 2020; Mead & Willey, 1980), nutrients (Gao et al, 2014; Mei et al, 2012), water (Meixiu et al, 2020; Ren et al, 2016; Rezig et al, 2013; Wang et al, 2015, 2020), and light (Raza et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2015), especially when there is a temporal and spatial exploration of these resources (Brooker et al, 2014; Dong et al, 2018; Duchene et al, 2017; Glaze‐Corcoran et al, 2020; Nyawade et al, 2020; Raza et al, 2021; Rigal et al, 2020; Rigal et al, 2020). Although several studies have found a reduction in coffee yield when grown under intercropping with trees (Araújo et al, 2016; Rigal, Xu, Hu, et al, 2020; Rigal, Xu, & Vaast, 2020; Snoeck et al, 2013; Steiman et al, 2011), recent research has demonstrated that depending on the companion tree species used and their spatial arrangement, intercropping of the Arabica coffee can be quite efficient (Perdoná & Soratto, 2015b, 2016, 2020; Rigal, Xu, Hu, et al, 2020).…”

Effect of intercropping with legumes at different rates on the yield and soil physicochemical properties of Cyperus esculentus L. in arid land

“…In addition, acidic metabolites are produced by intercropping plants with alfalfa and soybeans, resulting in a decrease in pH. These acids act as main osmotic pressure regulators, contributing to the increased SWC in intercropping ( Rezig et al., 2013 ). Our results also showed that intercropping with legumes increases soil SWC, which is supported by previous studies indicating that intercropping systems can significantly improve soil physicohydraulic properties and optimize soil structure ( Chen et al., 2019 ; Shen et al., 2023 ).…”

“…In addition, Black and Ong (2000) reported that, compared with monocropping, intercropping reduced crop water consumption (WC) without affecting total biomass production. Rezig et al (2013) also showed that intercropping led to WC reduction in potato and sulla, resulting in increased water use efficiency of both crops. This phenomenon can be attributed to two factors.…”