Maize/Soybean Strip Intercropping Produces Higher Crop Yields and Saves Water Under Semi-Arid Conditions

dc.contributor.authorRaza, Muhammad Ali
dc.contributor.authorYasin, Hassan Shehryar
dc.contributor.authorGul, Hina
dc.contributor.authorQin, Ruijun
dc.contributor.authorMohi, Atta
dc.contributor.authorDin, Ud
dc.contributor.authorKhalid, Muhammad Hayder Bin
dc.contributor.authorHussain, Sajad
dc.contributor.authorGitari, Harun
dc.contributor.authorSaeed, Amjed
dc.contributor.authorWang, Jun
dc.contributor.authorRezaei-Chiyaneh, Esmaeil
dc.contributor.authorEl Sabagh, Ayman
dc.contributor.authorManzoor, Amir
dc.contributor.authorFatima, Akash
dc.contributor.authorAhmad, Shakeel
dc.contributor.authorYang, Feng
dc.contributor.authorSkalicky, Milan
dc.contributor.authorYang, Wenyu
dc.date.accessioned2023-04-03T12:39:31Z
dc.date.available2023-04-03T12:39:31Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionArticleen_US
dc.description.abstractSustainable increases in crop production require efficient use of resources, and intercropping can improve water use efficiency and land productivity at reduced inputs. Thus, in a three-year field experiment, the performance of maize/soybean strip intercropping system differing with maize plant density (6 maize plants m-2, low, D1; 8 maize plantsm-2,medium, D2; and 10 maize plantsm-2, high, D3) was evaluated in comparison with sole maize or soybean cropping system. Results revealed that among all intercropping treatments, D2 had a significantly higher total leaf area index (maize LAI + soybean LAI; 8.2), total dry matter production (maize dry matter + soybean dry matter; 361.5 g plant-1), and total grain yield (maize grain yield + soybean grain yield; 10122.5 kg ha-1) than D1 and D3, and also higher than sole maize (4.8, 338.7 g plant-1, and 9553.7 kg ha-1) and sole soybean (4.6, 64.8 g plant-1, and 1559.5 kg ha-1). The intercropped maize was more efficient in utilizing the radiation and water, with a radiation use efficiency of 3.5, 5.2, and 4.3 g MJ-1 and water use efficiency of 14.3, 16.2, and 13.3 kg ha-1mm-1, while that of intercropped soybean was 2.5, 2.1, and 1.8 g MJ-1 and 2.1, 1.9, and 1.5 kg ha-1 mm-1 in D1, D2, and D3, respectively. In intercropping, the land and water equivalent ratios ranged from 1.22 to 1.55, demonstrating that it is a sustainable strategy to improve land and water use efficiencies; this maximization is likely associated with the species complementarities for radiation, water, and land in time and space, which resulted in part from competition avoidance responses that maximize the economic profit (e. g., 1300 US $ ha-1 in D2) over solemaize (798 US $ ha-1) or sole soybean (703 US $ ha-1). Overall, these results indicate that optimizing strip intercropping systems can save 20–50% of water and land, especially under the present scenario of limited resources and climate change. However, further research is required to fully understand the resource capture mechanisms of intercrops in intercropping.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipProf. Athar Mahbooben_US
dc.identifier.citationRaza, M. A., Yasin, H. S., Gul, H., Qin, R., Din, A. M. U., Khalid, M. H. B., ... & Yang, W. (2022). Maize/soybean strip intercropping produces higher crop yields and saves water under semi-arid conditions. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13.en_US
dc.identifier.other10.3389/fpls.2022.1006720
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/25097
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherFrontiersen_US
dc.subjectland productivityen_US
dc.subjectwater use efficiencyen_US
dc.subjectcompetitionen_US
dc.subjectsustainabilityen_US
dc.subjecteconomic profiten_US
dc.titleMaize/Soybean Strip Intercropping Produces Higher Crop Yields and Saves Water Under Semi-Arid Conditionsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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