Abstract
Multispecies cropping systems contribute to sustainable agriculture with multiple ecosystem services. Effects of intercropping of organically managed maize and faba beans to silage on acquisition of mineral nutrients in shoots of both crops and on leaf spot progression in faba beans were investigated. Three field experiments were performed with maize and faba bean intercropped or grown separately. Intercropping increased shoot concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Na, S and B in faba bean, and shoot concentrations of Cu, Zn and Mo in maize. Thus, the ecological complementary effects enhance feed quality. Disease severity index (DSI) of leaf spots in faba beans was reduced by intercropping by 42–57%, partly due to an increased Cu acquisition at sites where the Cu availability was low. There was a significant negative linear relationship between Cu concentration in shoots and DSI of leaf spots. Total uptake of mineral nutrients per land area was greater in the intercropping system with a total LER > 1 for all mineral nutrients, except for P, Ca and Mn at one of the sites. Increased nutrient use efficiency, due to facilitative uptake from the soil, and the production of crops with higher contents of minerals compared with monocropping, are benefits of intercropped maize and faba beans.
Highlights
Cropping two or more species on the same land area provides multiple ecosystem services improving the sustainability in agricultural production systems
The crops may be intercropped in a forage ley with a mixture of species, or different crop species grown in separate rows, or in wide strips
Plant acquisition of e.g. N and P are improved by interspecific facilitation i.e. the functional trait of one plant species improves the nutrient uptake of another species that results in an increased efficiency in the use of nutrients in the soil (Li et al 2007, Xia et al 2013, Li et al 2014)
Summary
Cropping two or more species on the same land area provides multiple ecosystem services improving the sustainability in agricultural production systems. Facilitative root interactions between crop species in an intercropping system may generate benefits such as greater biomass yield per land area (Jannasch and Martin 1999, Hauggaard-Nielsen and Jensen 2005, Li et al 2014). The mechanisms behind the increased yields in intercropping systems may be due to the combination of the species functional traits involved in nutrient acquisition reviewed by Faucon et al (2017). Plant acquisition of e.g. N and P are improved by interspecific facilitation i.e. the functional trait of one plant species improves the nutrient uptake of another species that results in an increased efficiency in the use of nutrients in the soil (Li et al 2007, Xia et al 2013, Li et al 2014). Maize (Zea mays L) and faba bean (Vicia faba L) often result in enhanced yields, with land equivalent ratios >1 when intercropped (Li et al 2011, Stoltz and Nadeau 2014)
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