Abstract
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) relay intercropping with maize exposes sweet potato to weak levels of sunlight due to the shadow maize creates during the symbiotic period. The insufficient light accordingly causes slow growth and development of vines and leaves of sweet potato in its early stage. The planting density and row direction of maize, the width of the intercropping strip, and the lodging type of sweet potato may form various photo conditions that influence sweet potato. The objective of this experiment was to research the effects of different ridging types on sweet potato and to elucidate the mechanisms of ecological conditions, photosynthetic physiology and intercropping benefits. The results indicated that, contrast to the one wide-ridge with planting two rows of sweet potato and two narrow ridges with planting two rows, mound planting was more superior in many aspects. Through mound planting sweet potato showed a larger range of temperature in air and soil, higher net photosynthetic rate, more active enzymes related with photosynthesis, and more benefits of relay intercropping.
Highlights
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is widely used for food, feedstock and industrial materials and is mainly cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) relay intercropping with maize exposes sweet potato to weak levels of sunlight due to the shadow maize creates during the symbiotic period
The results indicated that, contrast to the one wideridge with planting two rows of sweet potato and two narrow ridges with planting two rows, mound planting was more superior in many aspects
Summary
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is widely used for food, feedstock and industrial materials and is mainly cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas. Sweet potato is cultivated in more than 100 countries all over the world. It ranks as the seventh largest crop after corn, wheat, rice, soybean, cotton, potato (Ma, 2013; Zhang, 2015). About 96% of sweet potato comes from Asia and Africa. Chongqing is a province-level municipality that is located in southwestern China and is one of the main and traditional sweet potato zones. Relay intercropping with maize has been found to be the most common mode for sweet potato cultivation in this area
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