Abstract
One of the most important and sustainable cropping practice is intercropping. The study was conducted under field conditions in the arid Horqine sandy land in Baicheng District, Jilin Province, Northern China in 2011. A randomized complete block design with four replications was used. Treatments comprised different mono cropping and intercropping patterns, TO: sole cropping of oat, TOS-O: oat in the intercropping of oat and soybean, TOG-O: oat in the intercropping of oat and groundnut, TS: sole cropping of soybean, TOS-S: soybean in intercropping of oat and soybean, TG: sole cropping of groundnut, TOG-G: groundnut in the intercropping of oat and groundnut. In mono-cropping systems, oat mono-cropping obtained the highest dry matter and nitrogen accumulation in all growth stages. The maximum protein percentage in all stages except for ripening stage, were for groundnut mono-cropping. Although, the maximum organic matter in ripening stage was achieved in mono-cropping of soybean, the highest one in other stages was related to groundnut mono-cropping. In intercropping patterns, oat in oat-groundnut obtained the highest dry matter in all stages. The highest value of protein percentage and organic matter in heading stage, grain filling stage, and grain dough stage was achieved in groundnut in oat-groundnut intercropping. Furthermore, the maximum value of protein percentage and organic matter in booting stage and ripening stage was related to soybean in oat-soybean intercropping. The results of this study clearly indicate that intercropping oat and groundnut affects the growth rate of the individual species in mixtures as well as the dry matter yield and nitrogen accumulation. This information can help in the adaptation of oat- intercrops for increased forage production in new cropping systems.
Highlights
Intercropping, the mixed growth of two or more crops, is practiced in more than 28 million hectares of areas sown annually in China
Oat seed rate per row for both monoculture and intercropping patterns were the same. The distance between both groundnut and soybean row with oat rows were 20 cm. The ration of both soybean and groundnut intercropping with oat was 2: 2. All seeds were sown by skillful workers on May 17th; oat and legumes were harvested on 12th August and 7th September
Oat dry matter in booting stage in oat-soybean intercropping was higher than oat yield in oat-groundnut intercropping and other treatments, which had significant differences with other treatments
Summary
Intercropping, the mixed growth of two or more crops, is practiced in more than 28 million hectares of areas sown annually in China. Other benefits of mixtures include greater uptake of water and nutrients, enhanced weed suppression, and increased soil conservation (Li et al, 2009) These systems protect soil against erosion, improve the use of limited resources, improve forage quality, increase stability of yield and provide higher returns (Javanmard et al, 2009; Lee and Yoon, 2013). Intercropping of legumes with non-legumes results in production of more dry matter and an increase in protein content of the resulting crop, with minimum N fertilizer input (Ijoyah and Fanen, 2012).Caballero and Goicoechea (1986) reported that the most suitable cereal for mixtures with legume is oat (Avena sativa L.). The third aim was to study changes of dry matter in different stages of oat intercropped by soybean and groundnut
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