Land Productivity and Water Use Efficiency of Maize-Soybean Strip Intercropping Systems in Semi-Arid Areas: A Case Study in Punjab Province, Pakistan
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Date
2021
Authors
Muhammad, Ali Raza
Hina, Gul
Jun, Wang
Hassan, Shehryar Yasin
Ruijun, Qin
Muhammad, Hayder Bin Khalid
Muhammd, Naeem
Ling, Yang Feng
Nasir, Iqbal
Gitari, Harun I.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Intercropping improves crop productivity in dryland farms, but little information is available on its application to
irrigated land. Therefore, a three-year field trial was conducted to compare two maize-soybean strip-intercropping planting patterns (two-rows of maize intercropped with two-rows of soybean [2M2S] or -three rows of
soybean [2M3S]) were studied with sole maize (SM) and sole soybean (SS) systems. Our results showed that
wider-strips of soybean grown as 2M3S had significantly higher leaf area index (LAI; 19%), total dry matter
accumulation (TDM; 15%), and grain yield (21%) than the narrower 2M2S strips; this is likely related to the
reduced effects of maize shading on soybean. Slightly decreased LAI (4%), TDM (8%), and grain yield (5%) of
maize were found in 2M3S. On average, intercropped maize and soybean produced 80% and 52% in 2M2S and
76% and 63% in 2M3S compared to SM and SS yields, respectively, demonstrating the dominance of maize over
soybean when intercropped. Similarly, maize was a stronger competitor for water than soybean, with partial
water equivalent ratio of 0.81 in 2M2S and 0.78 in 2M3S, while that of soybean was 0.54 in 2M2S and 0.66 in
2M3S. In the intercropping systems, the land equivalent ratio ranged from 1.31 to 1.45, and the water equivalent
ratio ranged from 1.32 to 1.49, exhibiting that maize-soybean strip-intercropping is a productive strategy to
maximize water use efficiency. The results suggest that the maize-soybean strip-intercropping system may be a
productive and sustainable strategy to improve the water use efficiency and land productivity under irrigated
conditions. This strategy could benefit agriculture with cleaner, and more efficient production under a global
scenario of constrained land and water resources. However, more studies are needed to evaluate the feasibility of
intercropping systems in various growing conditions.
Description
An Article Published in Journal of Cleaner Production
Keywords
Water equivalent ratio, Land equivalent ratio, Water-saving, Dry matter, Cereals, Legumes