Strip-width determines competitive strengths and grain yields of intercrop species in relay intercropping system

Raza, Muhammad Ali; Cui, Liang; Qin, Ruijun; Yang, Feng; Yang, Wenyu

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78719-y

Cited by 27 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…The three performance indicators were used in our study to evaluate the major aspects of plant demographical processes, which can provide a complete assessment of plant interactions. Our findings are consistent with the general observation that maize is the dominant species in intercropping systems, with a higher NE and RII and lower RCI, which indicated the competitive advantage of maize over grass pea in intercropping systems [ 34 , 35 ]. Interestingly, the yield RII of maize was higher than the biomass RII, while the grass pea yield RII was lower than the biomass RII.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Transition in plant–plant facilitation in response to soil water and phosphorus availability in a legume-cereal intercropping system

et al. 2022

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Background The tradeoff between negative and positive interactions of facilitated species and facilitators may depend on the degree of resource availability in agroecosystems. However, the rhizospheric mechanisms driving trade-offs that occur along phosphorus (P) and water availability gradients have not yet been systematically clarified. We established three types of root isolation conditions (no barrier, nylon barrier and solid barrier) at different P and water addition levels to address the above issue in a maize-grass pea intercropping system. Results The total yield and biomass net effect (NE) and the relative interaction index (RII) were significantly higher than 0 under all environmental conditions, demonstrating that plant-plant interactions generated positive effects in the intercropping system. The maize yield and biomass RII were 0.029–0.095 and 0.018–0.066, respectively, which indicated that maize growth was constantly facilitated. However, the RII for grass pea yield and biomass exhibited a different trend in comparison with maize. It was higher than 0 (as the facilitated species) under low soil P and moisture conditions and transitioned to values lower than 0 (facilitator species) under high P and moisture conditions, which showed that the type and intensity of plant-plant interactions steadily shifted with the applied stressors. Direct interactions decreased the maize rhizospheric soil pH by 1.5% and 1.9% under Low-P conditions. Notably, the rhizospheric soil acid and alkaline phosphatase secretions of maize and grass pea increased by 17.4–27.4% and 15.3–27.7%, respectively, in P-deficient soils. These results show that plant-plant interactions can effectively relieve P stress by mineralizing organophosphorus in P-deficient soils. Furthermore, the above tendency became more pronounced under drought-stressed conditions. The nylon barrier partially restricted the exchange and utilization of available nutrients and decreased the total yield and biomass by 1.8–7.8% and 1.1–7.8%, respectively. The presence of a solid barrier completely restricted interspecific rhizospheric interactions and decreased the total yield and biomass by 2.1–13.8% and 1.6–15.7%, respectively. Phytate and KH2PO4 addition intensified asymmetric interspecific competition, and grass pea was consistently subjected to competitive pressures. Conclusion Briefly, the tradeoff between facilitation and competition was driven by rhizospheric interactions, and the transition in the intensity and type of interaction was highly dependent on resource availability in a biologically diverse system.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Transition in plant–plant facilitation in response to soil water and phosphorus availability in a legume-cereal intercropping system

et al. 2022

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“…NS refers to non-significant difference (p< 0.05) among treatments. previous studies (Gao et al, 2010;Feng et al, 2020;Raza et al, 2020). Therefore, the radiation use efficiency of intercropping systems can be increased by selecting the optimum planting density of intercrop species, especially of tall crops (i. e., maize, millet, sorghum, etc.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each treatment's total income (gross income) was estimated according to the yearly local market prices for maize and soybean grains in Pakistan. The net profit was calculated by subtracting the total expenditure from the total income (Raza et al, 2018).…”

Section: Economic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Determining the optimum planting density of intercrop species is a paramount for higher crop yields in intercropping. Compared with mono-cropping, crops in intercropping use planting space more efficiently and effectively ( Raza et al., 2020 ). The optimum planting density in intercropping outweighs the optimum planting density in mono-cropping ( Willey and Osiru, 1972 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maize/soybean strip intercropping produces higher crop yields and saves water under semi-arid conditions

et al. 2022

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Sustainable increases in crop production require efficient use of resources, and intercropping can improve water use efficiency and land productivity at reduced inputs. Thus, in a three-year field experiment, the performance of maize/soybean strip intercropping system differing with maize plant density (6 maize plants m-2, low, D1; 8 maize plants m-2, medium, D2; and 10 maize plants m-2, high, D3) was evaluated in comparison with sole maize or soybean cropping system. Results revealed that among all intercropping treatments, D2 had a significantly higher total leaf area index (maize LAI + soybean LAI; 8.2), total dry matter production (maize dry matter + soybean dry matter; 361.5 g plant-1), and total grain yield (maize grain yield + soybean grain yield; 10122.5 kg ha-1) than D1 and D3, and also higher than sole maize (4.8, 338.7 g plant-1, and 9553.7 kg ha-1) and sole soybean (4.6, 64.8 g plant-1, and 1559.5 kg ha-1). The intercropped maize was more efficient in utilizing the radiation and water, with a radiation use efficiency of 3.5, 5.2, and 4.3 g MJ-1 and water use efficiency of 14.3, 16.2, and 13.3 kg ha-1 mm-1, while that of intercropped soybean was 2.5, 2.1, and 1.8 g MJ-1 and 2.1, 1.9, and 1.5 kg ha-1 mm-1 in D1, D2, and D3, respectively. In intercropping, the land and water equivalent ratios ranged from 1.22 to 1.55, demonstrating that it is a sustainable strategy to improve land and water use efficiencies; this maximization is likely associated with the species complementarities for radiation, water, and land in time and space, which resulted in part from competition avoidance responses that maximize the economic profit (e. g., 1300 US $ ha-1 in D2) over sole maize (798 US $ ha-1) or sole soybean (703 US $ ha-1). Overall, these results indicate that optimizing strip intercropping systems can save 20–50% of water and land, especially under the present scenario of limited resources and climate change. However, further research is required to fully understand the resource capture mechanisms of intercrops in intercropping.

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“…The increase in grain yield in both component plants (FM and PP) in intercropping was the result of an increased number of panicle and grain weight per panicle in FM and number of pod and pod weight per plant in PP (see supplementary data). Since the process of pod and panicle formation is influenced by light availability, nutrients and soil moisture (Härdter and Horst, 1991;Thorsted et al, 2006;Raza et al, 2020), the yield improvement in row-wise intercropping could be attributed to efficient utilization of nutrients through the applied biofertilizers.…”

Section: Effects Of Biofertilizersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Arrangement and Biofertilizers Enhance the Performance of Legume—Millet Intercropping System in Rainfed Areas of Southern India

Singh

Mathimaran

Sekar

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Intercropping is a well-established practice to enhance the yield in low-input agriculture, and beneficial microbes such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) combined with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria are being used as an effective and sustainable measure to improve yields. In this study, we tested if biofertilizers can not only enhance the yield of crops in monoculture as has previously been demonstrated but can also enhance the yield of intercropping systems. We hypothesized that because AMF can form common mycorrhizal networks (CMN) that can transfer nutrients and water between different plant species, biofertilization can balance belowground competition between crop species and promote thus overall yields in intercropping systems. In our study, we used a pigeon pea (PP)—finger millet (FM) intercropping system that we grew for two consecutive growing seasons (2016/17 and 2017/18) at two contrasting sites in Bengaluru and Kolli Hills, India. We also tested if the spatial arrangement (i.e., different arrangement of component plants with similar plant density in intercropping system) of intercropped plants, using either a row-wise or a mosaic design, influences the effect of biofertilizers on yield and water relations of the PP-FM intercropping system. Our results demonstrate that intercropping can improve the straw and grain yield of PP and FM compared to the respective monocultures and that intercropping effects vary depending on the site characteristic such as climate and soil type. The spatial arrangement of component plants affected the total, straw, and grain biomass in intercropping treatments, but this effect also varied across sites. Most importantly, the results from the 2017/18 growing season clearly demonstrated a positive effect of biofertilizer on biomass yield, and this effect was irrespective of site, spatial arrangement, mixed or monoculture. Our study therefore shows that yield increase in intercropping systems can further be improved through the application of biofertilizers.

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Strip-width determines competitive strengths and grain yields of intercrop species in relay intercropping system

Cited by 27 publications

References 47 publications

Transition in plant–plant facilitation in response to soil water and phosphorus availability in a legume-cereal intercropping system

Transition in plant–plant facilitation in response to soil water and phosphorus availability in a legume-cereal intercropping system

Maize/soybean strip intercropping produces higher crop yields and saves water under semi-arid conditions

Spatial Arrangement and Biofertilizers Enhance the Performance of Legume—Millet Intercropping System in Rainfed Areas of Southern India

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