Abstract
In the semi-arid areas of Xinjiang in China, the agricultural community is facing long-term challenges in improving crop productivity and economic profits. A potential way to improve crop productivity is by intercropping food crops with cash crops. In this two-year field experimental study, we analyzed the advantages of the cumin/maize intercropping system as compared to cultivating them separately from three perspectives: crop growth, interspecific interactions, and water use efficiency. At the experimental site, each cropping systems (i.e., the cumin/maize intercropping system, monocropping cumin system, and monocropping maize system) had three replicates. In the experimental of 2019 and 2020, the three cropping systems showed significant differences in plant height, stem diameter, and leaf area index (LAI). The yields of the cumin/maize intercropping system were both lower than monocropping maize and cumin. However, the cumin/maize intercropping system had a higher land equivalent ratio (LER) than either of the monocropping systems, with a two-year average value of 1.65. Intercropped cumin was less dominant; as shown by aggressivity (Acm; averaging—0.22) and relative crowding coefficient (Rcm; averaging—3.15). In addition, the cumin/maize intercropping system significantly improved the Water equivalent ratio (WER) as compared to the monocropping systems, with a two-year average value of 1.67. Therefore, the cumin/maize intercropping system is a promising agricultural strategy to improve the utilization rate of agricultural resources and economic benefits in Xinjiang.
Highlights
The world’s population has been continuously increasing and is expected to exceed 9.7 billion in 2050 (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2019), which would severely threaten global food security (Bahar et al, 2020)
leaf area index (LAI) was the total leaf area divided by the land area occupied by the plant (Liang et al, 2019; Watson et al, 1947). 2.3.2 Aboveground Dry Matter, Yield, Total Land Output (TLO) At mature stage, five representative cumin or maize plants were collected from each plot, the aboveground parts of cumin and corn were separated and dried to constant weight in an oven at 85 °C
The yield of the cumin/maize intercropping system was significantly lower than the yield of monocropping cumin and maize, with a reduction rate of 22.5%, 11.7% (Table 3)
Summary
In the past two decades, drip irrigation under film mulch has been adopted in large-scale areas of Xinjiang to improve the crop yield per hectare for monoculture maize (Zea mays L.) or cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) (Dai et al, 2014; Ning et al, 2015). In these cropping systems, only single crop (maize or cotton) was planted in the filmmulching strips while the bare soil area between the film mulch rows is wasted.
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