• Authors:
    • Sakai, R. H.
    • Ambrosano, E. J.
    • Melo, P. C. T. de
    • Negrini, A. C. A.
    • Schammass, E. A.
    • Rossi, F.
  • Source: HORTICULTURA BRASILEIRA
  • Volume: 28
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: The performance of lettuce in sole and intercropped with green manures was assessed under different establishment times. The lettuce fresh and dry weight, number of leaves per plant, diameter and length of head, and fresh and dry weight of green manure were evaluated. The intercropping design was additive and both cash and cover crops were planted in rows. The experimental design was of randomized complete blocks in split plot scheme, with six replicates. The plots represented the green manure sowing days (0, 20, 40 and 60 before transplanting of lettuce), and the sub-plots were assigned by cropping systems (lettuce in sole crop and intercropped with black oat, cowpea or white lupin). Simultaneous planting in the intercropping did not affect the lettuce performance. However, when the green manures were sown before lettuce, they influenced it in a negative way. Among the green manures, cowpea increased biomass and had a higher negative effect on lettuce performance compared to white lupin, which appeared to produce less competition. The sole crop and the intercropping with simultaneous planting of the green manures resulted in a better lettuce performance.
  • Authors:
    • Meinhardt, C. G.
    • Nelson, K. A.
    • Smoot, R. L.
  • Source: International Journal of Agronomy
  • Volume: 2010
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Field research (2003-2005) evaluated the effect of wheat row spacing (19 and 38 cm) and cultivar on double-cropped (DC) soybean response, 38-cm wheat on relay-intercrop (RI) response, and wheat cultivar selection on gross margins of these cropping systems. Narrow-row wheat increased grain yield 460 kg ha -1, light interception (LI) 7%, and leaf area index (LAI) 0.5 compared to wide rows, but did not affect DC soybean yield. High yielding wheat (P25R37) with greater LI and LAI produced lower (330 kg ha -1) soybean yields in an RI system than a low yielding cultivar (Ernie). Gross margins were $267 ha -1 greater when P25R37 was RI with H431 Intellicoat (ITC) soybean compared to Ernie. Gross margins were similar for monocrop H431 non-coated (NC) or ITC soybean, P25R37 in 19- or 38-cm rows with DC H431 NC soybean, and P25R37 in 38-cm rows with RI H431 ITC soybean in the absence of an early fall frost.
  • Authors:
    • Burdick, B.
    • Smoot, R.
    • Nelson, K.
  • Source: Crop Management
  • Issue: July
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Soybean seeded [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] early into standing wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) using relay intercropping (RI) and seed-coat technology may reduce mechanical damage and soybean interference to wheat. Field research at Novelty from 2003 to 2005 and Albany in 2004 evaluated effects of seed coat technology on wheat and soybean response, and gross profits of RI soybean using seed coat technology compared with selected full season (FS) wheat or soybean and double crop (DC) wheat-soybean. Wheat grain yield in the absence of soybean was 10 bu/acre greater in narrow (7.5-inch) than wide (15-inch) rows. Relay intercropped Intellicoat (ITC) treated 5143 soybean delayed germination and increased 15-inch wheat grain yields 8 bu/acre compared to non-coated (NC) 5143. At Novelty, RI 5143 ITC yield was similar in all three years and 7 bu/acre greater at Albany than 5143 NC. In 2005, dry conditions in mid- to late June reduced RI stands and yields compared to DC soybean at Novelty. Double-cropped 5143 NC soybean had greater gross profits than RI 5143 ITC when wheat and soybean prices were high. However, RI 5143 ITC gross profits were greater when soybean prices were high and wheat prices were low. The RI system using ITC maintained soybean yields and did not reduce wheat yields due to mechanical damage or soybean interference compared to non-coated or fungicide-only coating.
  • Authors:
    • Zavalin, A.
    • Pasynkova, E.
  • Source: Russian Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 36
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: It is shown that a comparative evaluation of the biological efficiency and intensity of competitive relations in cereal (spring wheat) and pulse (spring vetch) mixed crops is the most complete and accurate in yield of the main product (grain, dry matter) and biological yield (grain+straw+chaff, dry matter).
  • Authors:
    • Elliott, N.
    • Giles, K.
    • Phoofolo, M.
  • Source: Environmental Entolomology
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Creating conditions that enhance the abundance of resident populations of natural enemies in agroecosystems is considered critical to the efficiency of biological control of insect pests. We conducted a study to determine the potential of relay-intercropping for enhancing the abundance of aphidophagous lady beetles in sorghum. A relay-intercropping system consisting of alfalfa, winter wheat, and cotton as intercrops and sorghum as a main crop was compared with sorghum monoculture plots at two study sites in OK from 2003 to 2006. Lady beetles and aphids were sampled throughout the season using sticky traps and field counts on individual sorghum plants. Results from sticky traps and field counts show that differences in abundance and species composition of lady beetles between intercropped and monoculture sorghum were not statistically different during each year of study. Also, the lady beetle-greenbug ratios in relay-intercropped and monoculture plots were not significantly different. Lack of significant effects of relay-intercropping in our study may have been attributable to the confounding effects of spatial and temporal scale and the low number of aphids and other alternative prey in the intercrops compared with high incidence of corn leaf aphids in sorghum early in the season.
  • Authors:
    • Ponizil, A.
    • Henriksen, B.
    • Pozdisek, J.
    • Hunady, I.
    • Loes, A. K.
  • Source: Vyzkum v Chovu Skotu
  • Volume: 52
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Controlled field trials with legume-cereal mixtures and monocultures were conducted on five organic farms in CR, to determine the suitability for feeding ruminants. Mixtures of 60% peas to 40% cereals (wheat and barley) were compared with peas, wheat, and barley monocultures. The obtained results are useful to assess how mixtures may be included in animal feed rations. For feeding beef cattle, it is most beneficial to harvest green matter in the BBCH 79 growth phase (green ripeness), which is characterized by a higher protein and energy content and a lower fiber content. Advantageous crop for beef cattle appeared to be the mixture with peas and barley, because the crude protein and NEL contents come the closest to the requirements for a balanced state between breakdown and synthesis in the rumen (CP 130 g kg -1, NEL 5.9 MJ kg -1 DM). The results support that legume-cereal intercropping is a feasible technology to produce high quality feed on organic farms, which may provide animals with good health, and potential to utilize their genetic capacity for growth and production.
  • Authors:
    • Chai, Q.
    • Qi, W.
  • Source: Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture
  • Volume: 18
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted in China to investigate the effect of different root partition patterns on wheat/maize competitiveness under intercropping system and how it affects yield. Two root partition patterns (plastic film and nylon mesh partition patterns) were used. Results showed that wheat/maize competitiveness in intercropping system steadily increased from sowing to flowering stage of wheat and then decreased the competitive advantage of wheat over maize under intercropping decreases by root partitioning. Intercropping system without root partition increased the competitive advantage of wheat by 20.5 and 4.9% respectively, compared to those with plastic film and nylon mesh partitions. The land equivalent ratios of intercropping systems without root partition, with plastic film partition and nylon mesh partition were 1.46, 1.20 and 1.39, respectively. Yield for the intercropping system was quadratically correlated with wheat competitiveness to maize. Improving wheat/maize competitiveness in intercropping systems increased yield. The stage of wheat flowering was critical for optimizing wheat competitiveness.
  • Authors:
    • Li, S.
    • Zheng, Y.
    • Tang, L.
    • Qiao, P.
  • Source: Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Science
  • Volume: 16
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Crop varieties are different in nutrient uptake, and intercropping may influence nutrient uptake and disease incidence of the crops. Pot experiments were carried out to investigate the characteristics of N, P and K uptake and powdery mildew incidence of 6 wheat cultivars, which differed in powdery mildew resistance and were intercropped with faba bean: 2 highly resistant cultivars YM47 and YM53, 2 medium resistant cultivars YM42 and YM51 and 2 sensitive cultivars YX11-12 and YX93-124. The biomass of YM47 and YM53 increased by 11.9% and 6.6% in intercropping, compared with that in mono-cropping. Nitrogen contents of the leaves of intercropped wheat cultivars YM47 and YM53 and YX11-12 significantly increased, by 1.20-1.25 times in comparison with those of mono-cropping. The phosphorus contents of wheat leaves increased at the milky and ripening stages, and potassium content of wheat leaves significantly increased by 9.1-22.3% at the jointing stage under the intercropping. The incidence of wheat powdery mildew of all wheat cultivars significantly decreased under the intercropping system, the relative disease controlling effects being 0.76-81.49%. The most desirable disease-controlling effects under the intercropping were observed in YM42, YM53 and YM93-142 at the milky stage.
  • Authors:
    • Dhyani, S. K.
    • Dar, S. A.
    • Ram, N.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 80
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted during 2005-07 at Jhansi to elucidate the influence of shoot pruning on growth of [ Albizia procera (Roxb.) Benth] and grain yield of intercrop. The experiment was conducted in split plot design with 2 crop sequences, namely blackgram ( Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) - mustard ( Brassica juncia L. Czern. & Coss.) and greengram ( Vigna radiata Roxb.) - wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. emend. Friori & Paol.) with 3 pruning regimes (70% canopy pruning, 50% canopy pruning and control unpruned). The results reveal that the growth of A. procera (dbh, height and canopy diameter) was significantly ( P <br/> 0.05) higher in control (unpruned trees) compared with the 50% canopy pruning and 70% canopy pruning. Grain yield of greengram-wheat crop sequence was 41.21 and 83.45% higher than the blackgram-mustard crop sequence. Among the pruning regimes, 70% canopy pruning gave 129.94% higher grain yield than the control (unpruned trees).
  • Authors:
    • Biradar, D. P.
    • Rathod, P. S.
    • Patil, V. C.
  • Source: Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences
  • Volume: 32
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bijapur on medium deep black soil during rabi seasons of 2004 and 2005 to study the influence of different rabi intercrops on growth and productivity of senna. The treatment consists of five rabi crops (chickpea, safflower, linseed, mustard and wheat) and senna in sole stand as well as intercropping system and safflower+chickpea (2:4) intercropping system as a check. The sole crop of senna recorded significantly better growth and growth parameters as compared to intercropped senna. The leaf and pod yield of senna also followed the same trend as that of growth and growth parameters with different rabi intercrops. Growing of senna with safflower adversely reduced the growth and growth parameters, leaf and pod yield as compared to chickpea, linseed, mustard and wheat.