Effect of Maize ( Zeal mays ) and Soybean ( Glycine max ) Intercropping on Yield and Root Development in Xinjiang, China

Wenwen Wei, Tingting Liu, Lei Shen, Xiuyuan Wang, Shuai Zhang and Wei Zhang
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Wenwen Wei: College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Tingting Liu: College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Lei Shen: College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Xiuyuan Wang: College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Shuai Zhang: College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Wei Zhang: College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Intercropping is a breakthrough in land-use optimization. This work aimed to study the effects of intercropping patterns on the growth, yield, root morphological characteristics, and interspecific competition of maize and soybean, as well as provide a reference for the development of intercropping patterns of maize and soybean in Northwest China. Three different cropping patterns were designed: monocropping maize, monocropping soybean, and maize-soybean intercropping. Agronomic traits, intercropping indicators such as land equivalent ratio (LER), aggressivity (A), competition ratio (CR), and actual yield loss (AYL), as well as root morphological characteristics were assessed. The results showed that, compared with monocropping, the intercropping maize plant height increased by 6.07–8.40%, and the intercropping soybean plant height increased by 35.27–38.94%; the root length density (RLD) of intercropping maize was higher than that of monocropping maize, the RLD of intercropping soybean was lower than that of monocropping soybean, in the 0–40 cm soil layer the intercropping increased maize RLD by 1.79–7.44% while the soybean RLD was reduced by 3.06–9.46%; the aggressivity of maize was greater than 0 and the competition ratio was greater than 1, which was the dominant species; the maize/soybean land equivalent ratio was 1.18–1.26, which improved the land utilization rate. Therefore, the effect of increasing yield can be achieved by changing the maize and soybean planting method, which is beneficial to the ecological strategy of sustainable development in the northwest region.

Keywords: interspecific competition; land equivalent ratio; planting pattern; root length density; root morphological characteristics (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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