Field and pot experiments were carried out in China to investigate the effects of intercropping wheat with faba bean on manganese uptake by wheat plants grown under a paddy-upland rotation system. Samples of wheat plants and rhizosphere soil were taken at the tillering, stem elongation, heading, milking and ripening stages of wheat for various determinations. Exchangeable manganese (NH 4OAC-Mn) in the soil rhizosphere of intercropping wheat was significantly higher than that of continuous cropping. NH 4OAC-Mn content of row 1 (IW1) and row 3 (IW3) of intercropping wheat increased by 21.09% and 7.78% in the field experiment and by 37.63% in the pot experiment, respectively. However, manganese absorption of wheat intercropping showed no advantage at the stem elongation stage before heading. After heading, faba bean intercropped with wheat promoted the absorption of manganese in wheat. Manganese accumulation in the above-ground parts of wheat in IW1 and IW3 increased by 39.30% and 29.06% at the heading stage, by 51.50% and 65.30% at the milking stage and by 36.17% and 13.86% at the ripening stage in the field experiment, respectively. In the pot experiment, manganese accumulation in the above-ground intercropping wheat increased by 107.46, 36.07, 26.67, and 20.92%, respectively, at the tillering, stem elongation, milking and ripening stages. However, NH 4OAC-Mn content in rhizosphere soil of intercropping showed no accumulation. In conclusion, intercropping faba bean with wheat increased manganese available in the rhizosphere soil before heading and its uptake by the above-ground parts of the wheat plants, especially leaves and spike, at the milking stage.
