Monoculture is widely practiced to increase crop productivity, but long-term adaptation has drawbacks as it increases the depletion of soil nutrients and reduces soil quality, especially in dryland ...areas. Conversion from traditional maize monoculture to intercropping improves sustainable production. However, maize/peanut intercropping, especially rotation of planting strips impacts of maize/peanut intercropping in dryland on carbon (C) budgets and economic benefits remain unclear. In this study, a 5-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of maize/peanut intercropping with rotation of planting strips on soil health, indirect CO2-eq greenhouse gas emissions, and ecosystem C inputs. Four intercropping treatments viz. maize monoculture, peanut monoculture, maize/peanut intercropping, and maize/peanut rotation-intercropping were tested from 2018 to 2022. Maize/peanut rotation intercropping significantly improved the land equivalent ratio followed by intercropping and monoculture. Rotation-intercropping also improved economic benefits over intercropping and monoculture which were mainly associated with increased peanut yield where the border rows contributed the maximum, followed by the middle rows. Moreover, rotation-intercropping significantly increased the soil organic C and nitrogen (N) content. Rotation-intercropping decreased indirect CO2-eq greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem C inputs by 3.11% and 18.04%, whereas increased ecosystem C outputs and net ecosystem C budget by 10.38% and 29.14%, respectively, over the average of monoculture. On average for intercropping and monoculture, rotation-intercropping increased ecosystem C emission efficiency for economic benefits by 51.94% and 227.27% in 2021 and 2022, respectively, showing the highest C utilization efficiency than other treatments. In the long run, maize/peanut rotation-intercropping can be practiced in dryland agriculture to achieve sustainable agriculture goals.
•Economic benefits, and carbon budget was evaluated for different cropping systems.•Maize/peanut rotation-intercropping (RI) can alleviate continuous crop barrier.•RI can increase resistance to dry weather compared to maize monoculture (M).•RI can is a viable alternative for sustainable agriculture compared to M.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Permanasari I, Sulistyaningsih E, Kurniasih B, Indradewa D. 2023. Morphophysiological and yield traits of soybean varieties tolerant of intercropping with maize. Biodiversitas 24: 3872-3880. Not all ...soybean varieties grow optimally when intercropped with maize. Previously, we identified seven varieties (i.e., "Demas 1", Dena 1", "Dena 2", "Derap 1", "Devon 1", "Devon 2", and "Wilis") and two (i.e., "Dega 1" and "Mahameru") as tolerant and intolerant of intercropping based on selection indices and yield. This research aims to determine the morphophysiological and yield traits of tolerant and intolerant soybean groups intercropped with maize. The study used a randomized complete block design with three blocks as replications, and conducted from October 2019 to February 2020. Results showed that light intensity in the intercropping system had decreased by 19.91% relative to that in the monoculture system at 7 weeks after planting. The tolerant group displayed significant gains in seed weight per plant (143.66%), total biomass (50.04%), harvest index (53.33%), total number of pods and seeds per plant (119.39% and 128.86%), leaf nitrogen uptake and content (20.83% and 6.44%), chlorophyll-a:b ratio (7.20%), and stem diameter (7.65%) than the intolerant group. Correlation analysis revealed that leaf nitrogen content showed the highest correlation and significantly contributed to seed weight per plant in the tolerant and intolerant groups. Seed weight in the tolerant group was mainly affected by morphological (total biomass and harvest index), physiological (leaf nitrogen content), and yield components (number of pods), whereas that in the intolerant group was influenced only by physiological parameters (nitrogen content). Nitrogen content was considered suitable as a selection indicator for determining the seed yield of intercropped soybean varieties. Furthermore, using soybean tolerant groups for intercropping may be a solution to increase soybean production in Indonesia.
Phytoremediation is a green technology for heavy metal removal from contaminated soil, and its remediation efficiency and economic feasibility in field trial should be evaluated before large-scale ...application. However, there is still lacking relevant analysis, especially for phytoremediation with different cropping patterns. In the present study, we performed phytoremediation on slightly Cd-contaminated farmland soil via three cropping systems, i.e. Sedum alfredii monoculture, oilseed rape monoculture, and S. alfredii-oilseed rape intercropping. Dry weights of S. alfredii and oilseed rape were both enhanced under intercropping pattern, while the highest total Cd extraction amount (148 g ha−1) were observed under S. alfredii monoculture. Furtherly, a cost-benefit analysis via Monta Carlo simulation in a ten-year lifetime was conducted. The benefits of S. alfredii monoculture and intercropping schemes would offset the total costs in 6 and 8 years, respectively. S. alfredii monoculture achieved a higher net present value of 1.88 × 104 US$ as compared with intercropping (9.53 × 103 US$). These results indicate that S. alfredii monoculture scheme could be a promising phytoremediation strategy for slightly Cd-contaminated soil owing to better remediation efficiency and economic feasibility. Moreover, the enhancement in mechanization level and the reduction of seedling cost could further improve its economic viability.
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•Phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil was conducted via various cropping patterns.•Dry weights of S. alfredii and oilseed rape were enhanced under intercropping pattern.•S. alfredii monoculture showed the highest Cd removal efficiency and economic viability.•The remediation benefit could offset the cost via S. alfredii monoculture in 6 years.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Conventional agriculture in the global north is typically characterized by large monocultures, commonly managed with high levels of pesticide or fertilizer input and mechanization. Strip ...intercropping, that is, diversifying cropland by growing strips of different crops using conventional machinery, may be a viable strategy to promote natural predator diversity and associated biological pest control in such conventional farming systems.
We tested the influence of strip intercropping of conventionally managed winter wheat with oilseed rape, using common machinery with 27–36 m broad strips, on arthropod predator diversity and biological pest control. We characterized spider and carabid beetle communities, calculated pest aphid and pollen beetle densities and recorded parasitism rates for both crops (number of mummified aphids on wheat and number of parasitized pollen beetle larvae on oilseed rape).
We observed a significant reduction in the densities of wheat aphids (50% decrease) and pollen beetle larvae (20% decrease) in strip intercropping areas compared to monocultures. Parasitism rates of wheat aphids increased significantly from 10% in monocultures to 25% in strip intercropping areas. The number of parasitized pollen beetle larvae did not show the same pattern but was higher towards the centre of the oilseed rape strip. Overall, the composition of predator communities benefited from the close neighbourhood of the two crop species in the strips, as carabid beetles were more abundant in oilseed rape and spiders were more abundant in wheat fields. Overall, strip intercropping reduced the dominance of one predator group and allowed for an equal representation of both spiders and carabid beetles in the mixture.
Synthesis and applications. Our study presents evidence of the benefits of adopting strip intercropping with relatively large strips (adapted to existing machinery) for natural predator diversity and biological pest control in a large‐scale conventionally managed farm scenario. Wheat–oilseed rape strip intercropping reduced pest densities, increased parasitism of wheat aphids and promoted equal representation of natural predator groups well beyond the areas of monoculture. Overall, by reducing the area dedicated to only one crop, the implementation of strip intercropping adapted to mechanized agricultural scenarios can be used to increase crop heterogeneity at regional scales and enhance biodiversity and biological control, even in simplified landscapes dominated by large‐scale conventional agriculture.
Our study presents evidence of the benefits of adopting strip intercropping with relatively large strips (adapted to existing machinery) for natural predator diversity and biological pest control in a large‐scale conventionally managed farm scenario. Wheat–oilseed rape strip intercropping reduced pest densities, increased parasitism of wheat aphids and promoted equal representation of natural predator groups well beyond the areas of monoculture. Overall, by reducing the area dedicated to only one crop, the implementation of strip intercropping adapted to mechanized agricultural scenarios can be used to increase crop heterogeneity at regional scales and enhance biodiversity and biological control, even in simplified landscapes dominated by large‐scale conventional agriculture.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Better management of N fertilizer is essential for improving crop productivity. Wheat (
L.)-peanut (
L.) relay intercropping rotation systems are a mainstay of the measures to improve the economic ...and food security situation in China. Therefore, a 2-year field study (2015-2017) was conducted to evaluate the effect of different N fertilizer management regimes on the photosynthetic characteristics and uptake and translocation of N in peanut in the wheat-peanut rotation system. We used common compound fertilizer (CCF) and controlled-release compound fertilizer (CRF) at the same N-P
O
-K
O proportion (The contents of N, P
O
, and K
O in the two kinds of fertilizer were 20, 15, and 10%, respectively.). The fertilizer was applied on the day before sowing, at the jointing stage or the flag leaf stage of winter wheat, and at the initial flowering stage of peanut in various proportions, with 0 kg N ha
as the control. Results showed that split applications of N significantly increased leaf area index (LAI) and chlorophyll content and improved photosynthetic rate, thus increasing the pod yield of peanut. Topdressing N at the jointing stage (S1) or at the flag leaf stage of wheat (S2) and supplying part of the N at the initial flowering stage of peanut increased pod yield. Withholding N until the flag leaf stage (S2) did not negatively affect wheat grain yield; however, it increased N accumulation in each organ and N allocation proportions in the peanut pod, ultimately improving pod yield. With the same N-P
O
-K
O proportion and equivalent amounts of nutrient, CRF can decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) and maintain a relatively high LAI and chlorophyll content at the late growth stage of peanut, prolong the functional period of peanut leaves and delay leaf senescence, resulting in an increase of pod yield over that with CCF. At S1, CRF resulted in a better pod yield than CCF by 9.4%, and at S2 it was 12.6% higher. In summary, applying N fertilizer in three splits and delaying the topdressing fertilization until the flag leaf stage of winter wheat increases total grain yields of wheat and peanut. This method could therefore be an appropriate N management strategy for wheat-peanut relay intercropping rotation systems in China.
Although sugarcane-soybean intercropping has been widely used to control disease and improve productivity in the field, the response of soil fungal communities to intercropping has not been fully ...understood. In this study, the rhizosphere fungal communities of sugarcane and soybean under monoculture and intercropping systems were investigated using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of ITS gene. Intercropping decreased the alpha-diversity and changed fungal community composition compared to monocultures. Taxonomic analyses showed that the dominant phyla were Ascomycota, Zygomycota and Basidiomycota. The abundance of Ascomycota decreased in intercropping sugarcane-grown soil compared to monoculture, while it increased in soybean-grown soil in the intercropping system. In addition, intercropping increased the abundance of important fungal genera, such as Trichoderma, Hypocreales and Fusarium but decreased the relative abundance of Gibberella and Chaetomium. The results of canonical correspondence analysis and automatic linear modelling indicated that fungal community compositions were closely associated with soil parameters such as total nitrogen (TN), soil organic matter (SOC), pH and NO
, which suggests that the impacts of intercropping on the soil fungal community are linked to the alteration of soil chemical properties.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Meta-analysis of the intercropping literature shows that average LER is 1.22±0.02.•An index (TND) is proposed to quantify temporal niche differentiation in intercrops.•LER increases with TND in ...C3/C4 intercrops but not in C3/C3 intercrops.•LER decreases with rate of N fertilizer at low TND.•The negative effect of nitrogen fertilizer on LER is alleviated by increasing TND.
Sustainable intensification of agriculture is needed to meet higher future food demands while mitigating agriculture’s ecological footprint. Intercropping is a strategy for increasing agricultural productivity per unit land that is based on ecological mechanisms for improved resource capture. No quantitative synthesis has been made on the effect of intercrop system properties and species trait combinations on intercrop productivity. Here we use meta-analysis of the intercropping literature to study how the productivity of mixed systems is affected by intercrop system design and species traits. We focus on the effects of temporal niche differentiation between species, intercropping pattern, relative densities, the use of C3 and C4 species and the rate of nitrogen fertilizer. Land equivalent ratio (LER) is used as index for assessing the relative productivity of a mixed system as compared to sole crops. Average LER was 1.22±0.02, and no differences in LER were found between the 50 most highly cited studies and a random sample from the literature, indicating that high LERs in highly cited papers are representative of the entire literature. Temporal niche differentiation contributed substantially to high LER in systems combining a C3 and C4 species, but not in systems based on C3 species mixtures. The amount of N fertilizer interacted positively with the effect of temporal niche differentiation on LER. The intercropping literature is dominated by studies on cereal/legume mixtures. However, the few studies on C3 cereal/C4 cereal mixtures indicate these mixtures have high LER.
Substantial improvements in land use efficiency in agriculture may be obtained by using mixtures, particularly C3/C4 mixtures. Thus, enhanced within-field crop diversity can make an important contribution to sustainable increases in food production.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Although the transition toward a more sustainable agricultural system is sparking the interest of scientists and farmers around the globe, breeding programs are still focusing on optimizing cultivars ...intended for the monoculture system, and most cultivars available on the market are not suitable for intercropping. The incorporation of versatile cool-season food legumes (CSFLs) in the intercropping system is a promising way toward more diversified and sustainable cropping systems. However, as the selection of good-performing cultivars under sole cropping does not always lead to a good performance in intercropping, the development of an alternative breeding scheme for intercropping is now a necessity. The case study of faba bean-wheat intercropping was used to select for traits associated with better performance of faba bean, resulting in identifying the combined grain yield, 100-seed weight, number of pods per plant, and canopy height as key traits for faba bean-wheat intercropping suitability. Incorporating these traits in the breeding programs would be the cornerstone of the prospective transition.
Enhancing the planning of the forest-agricultural composite model and increasing the efficiency with which forest land is utilized could benefit from a thorough understanding of the impacts of ...intercropping between forests and agriculture on soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities.
×
cv.
and
intercrop soils, along with their corresponding monocrops, were used in this study's llumina high-throughput sequencing analysis to determine the composition and diversity of soil bacterial and fungal communities.
The findings indicated that intercropping considerably raised the soil's total phosphorus content and significantly lowered the soil's carbon nitrogen ratio when compared to poplar single cropping. Furthermore, the total carbon and nitrogen content of soil was increased and the soil pH was decreased. The sequencing results showed that intercropping had no significant effect on soil alpha diversity. Intercropping could increase the composition of fungal community and decrease the composition of bacterial community in poplar soil. At the phylum level, intercropping significantly increased the relative abundance of four dominant phyla, i.e., Patescibacteria, Proteobacteria, Patescibacteria and Deinococcus-Thermus. And the relative abundances of only two dominant phyla were significantly increased. It was found that soil total phosphorus and available phosphorus content had the strongest correlation with soil bacterial community diversity, and soil pH had the strongest correlation with soil fungal community diversity.
The results of this study were similar to those of previous studies. This study can serve as a theoretical foundation for the development of a poplar and black bean-based forest-agricultural complex management system in the future.
Intercropping plays a vital role in greenhouse production, and affects soil physicochemical properties and soil microbial communities structure, but influences of intercropping on the relationship of ...microorganisms are reported in continuous cropping soil rarely. Here, we investigated the effects of seven intercropping systems alfalfa (
L.)/cucumber, trifolium (
L.)/cucumber, wheat (
L.)/cucumber, rye (
L.)/cucumber, chrysanthemum (
L.)/cucumber, rape (
L.)/cucumber, mustard (
L.)/cucumber on soil bacterial and fungal communities compared to the cucumber continuous cropping system in the greenhouse. The results showed that intercropping increased microbial OTU richness and fungal communities diversity, soil bacterial communities diversity was abundant in the trifolium-cucumber and mustard-cucumber systems. Nevertheless, there was no significant differences of microbial communities structure between intercropping and monoculture systems. Redundancy analysis indicated that soil microbial communities composition was indirectly influenced by soil properties. In addition, network analysis demonstrated that simple inter-relationships of fungal taxa were observed in the intercropping soil, and trifolium, wheat, and mustard intercropping systems had a complex connection between bacterial taxa. Taken together, trifolium and mustard as the intercrops significantly increased cucumber continuous cropping soil bacterial and fungal communities diversity. Moreover, intercropping strongly changed the relationships of microbial taxa, though did not shape notably soil microbial communities structure.
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