Effects of water limitation on yield advantage and water use in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)/maize (Zea mays L.) strip intercropping |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute of Water Saving Agriculture in Arid Regions of China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China;2. College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China;3. National Engineering Research Center for Water Saving Irrigation at Yangling, Yangling 712100, China;1. Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands;2. Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands;1. Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, Département de Phytotechnie, Hassan Badi 16200 El Harrach, Algiers, Algeria;2. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of Biosystems and Technology, Box 103, SE-23053 Alnarp, Sweden;3. Université Djilali Bounaama Khemis Miliana, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie & des Sciences de la Terre. Route Theniet El Had, Soufay, 44225 Ain Defla, Algeria;4. INRA, UMR Eco&Sols, 2 Place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier, France;1. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China;2. Institute of Water Saving Agriculture in Arid Regions of China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China;3. College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China;1. Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran;2. Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Campus of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran;3. Saffron Institute, University of Torbat-e-Heydarieh, Torbat-e-Heydarieh, Iran;1. College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Huhhot 010018, China;2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA |
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| Abstract: | Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)/maize (Zea mays L.) strip intercropping is widely practiced in arid regions of northwestern China because of its high land use efficiency. However, its sustainability has been questioned because it consumes much more water than sole cropped wheat or maize. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of water limitation on the yield advantage and water use of this system. Three field experiments were conducted in the Hetao Irrigation District in Inner Mongolia during the growing seasons of 2012–2014. Each experiment comprised two water applications, in which one was full irrigation and the other was a period of water limitation during the co-growth period of intercropping.The interspecific competition in wheat/maize intercropping was intensified by water stress. For water limitation applied during the wheat booting/maize V5 stage (Exp. I, second irrigation was not applied), the yield advantage of intercropped wheat (IW) over sole wheat was enhanced, whereas that of intercropped maize (IM) over sole maize was reduced compared with full irrigated treatments; for water limitation applied during the wheat jointing/maize V2 stage (Exp. II, first irrigation was not applied), the yield advantages of both IW and IM were greatly reduced; for water limitation applied during the wheat grain filling/maize V9 stage (Exp. III, third irrigation was not applied), the yield advantage of IW was slightly improved, whereas that of IM was reduced. The yield advantage of intercropping under limited irrigation was 25%, 3%, and 18% in Exps. I–III, respectively, whereas that under full irrigation ranged between 22 and 24%.Under well-watered conditions, wheat/maize intercropping used 24–29% more water than the weighted means of sole crops with the water use efficiency equivalent to sole crops. After the application of water limitation, 60 mm irrigation water was saved by intercropping every year, whereas the reduction of water use ranged from 25.1 to 70.8 mm; the changes in water use of intercropping relative to sole crops was reduced to 18–24%; the changes in water use efficiency stayed at nearly zero in Exps. I and III but decreased to a value of ?13% in Exp. II. These results indicated that water limitation could be applied during wheat booting or filling stage in wheat/maize intercropping to save irrigation water in our study area. |
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| Keywords: | Strip intercropping Wheat and maize Yield advantage Land use efficiency Water saving |
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