Yield, Economic Benefit, Soil Water Balance, and Water Use Efficiency of Intercropped Maize/Potato in Responses to Mulching Practices on the Semiarid Loess Plateau

Junhong Xie, Linlin Wang, Lingling Li, Sumera Anwar, Zhuzhu Luo, Effah Zechariah and Setor Kwami Fudjoe
Additional contact information
Junhong Xie: State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Linlin Wang: State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Lingling Li: State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Sumera Anwar: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54660, Pakistan
Zhuzhu Luo: State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Effah Zechariah: State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Setor Kwami Fudjoe: State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Increasing agricultural productivity without undermining further the integrity of the Earth’s environmental systems such as soil water balance are important tasks to ensure food security for an increasing global population in rainfed agriculture. The impact of intercropping maize ( Zea mays L.) with potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) on yield, land equivalent ratios (LER), water equivalent ratio (WER), water use, energy output, and net economic return were examined under seven planting systems: potato grown solely or intercropped on the flat field without mulching, maize grown solely or intercropped with potato on ridges or flat field with or without plastic film mulched. The three intercropping systems had 3–13% less water use than the monocropping. Among the intercropped systems, flat field caused more depletion of soil water than ridged field for both years. Compared to monocultures, intercropping with plastic film mulching and ridging significantly increased LER and WER. Meanwhile, intercropping with mulching and ridging significantly increased net economic return and energy output by 8% and 24%, respectively, when compared to monocropping. These results suggest that maize under plastic film mulched ridge-furrow plot intercropped with potato under flat plot without mulching increased energy output, net economic return, and water use efficiency without increasing soil water depletion, which could be an optimal intercropping system for the semiarid farmland on the western Loess Plateau.

Keywords: intercropping; mulching; soil water balance; yield; water use efficiency; net economic return (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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