Quinoa–Olive Agroforestry System Assessment in Semi-Arid Environments: Performance of an Innovative System

Abstract

Agroforestry is a promising way to sustain land use efficiency in semi-arid areas. In this study, we introduce quinoa as a drought- and salinity-tolerant crop in olive-based agroforestry. We investigated how the microclimate created by olive trees affects agronomic and biochemical traits in quinoa and evaluated the performance of this new olive-based agroforestry system in terms of land equivalent ratio (LER). Field experiments were carried out under two pedoclimatic conditions (S1) and (S2) using a randomized complete block design with two cropping systems (sole crop (SCS) and agroforestry (AFS) systems), four quinoa cultivars (Puno, Titicaca, ICBA-Q5, and ICBA-Q4) and one olive orchard as a control (OR) in each block. Our results show that AFS had lower grain yield (−45%), dry biomass (−49%), and crop water productivity (−44%), but higher plant height (12%), grain protein (4%), saponin (26%), total polyphenol (12%), and DPPH (9%) contents compared to SCS. The highest grain yield was recorded for Titicaca and ICBA-Q5 (1.6 t ha−1). The LER ranged from 1.57 to 2.07, indicating that the overall productivity was 57% to 107% higher in the agroforestry system compared with the monoculture. We suggest that quinoa–olive tree intercropping could be a promising agroecological practice under semi-arid conditions.

The Performance of Agronomic and Quality Traits of Quinoa under Different Altitude in Northwest of China

“…[30] observed similar trend in saponin content during low rainfall in 2019 in their experiment, however, [19] observed 45% reduction in saponin concentration during a water deficit experiment carried out in southern Europe. The variability of saponin content is primarily determined by genotype, although it can also be influenced by stressors such as soil salinity or drought [50,51]. Similar trend was observed in our findings, Jinli 1, Beijing 2 and Longli 4 were considered sweet varieties and showed lower values across the sites except for Zhaosu County, where no significant differences were observed between genotypes except for Longli 4 (Table 6).…”

The Performance of Agronomic and Quality Traits of Quinoa under Different Altitudes in Northwest of China

“…Granado-Rodríguez et al [31] observed a similar trend in saponin content during low rainfall in 2019 in their experiment; however, Gómez-Caravaca et al [20] observed a 45% reduction in saponin concentration during a water deficit experiment carried out in southern Europe. The variability of saponin content is primarily determined by genotype, although it can also be influenced by stressors such as soil salinity or drought [51,52]. A similar trend was observed in our findings: Jinli 1, Beijing 2, and Longli 4 were considered sweet genotypes and showed lower values across the sites except for Zhaosu County, where no significant differences were observed between genotypes except for Longli 4 (Table 5).…”