Restoring the Importance of Cereal-Grain Legume Mixtures in Low-Input Farming Systems

Abstract

In the paper, we overview the benefits of cereal-grain legume mixtures in low-input farming systems and identify the key factors affecting their agricultural performance. The review was based on the data collected from databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect. The gathered literature covered the original research articles, reviews, book chapters, and, in a few cases, conference proceedings. The focus was on literature coming from Mediterranean countries and Central-Eastern Europe, especially from Poland. Originating from two different plant families, legumes and cereals complement each other. The legumes provide biologically fixed nitrogen for the cereals in the mixture, but also increase its pool available to the following crops. Additional benefits include, but are not limited to more efficient pathogen and weed control, supply of high-quality fodder, and improved economic efficiency. Cultivation of crops after such mixtures usually results in higher and more stable yields. The productivity of cereal-grain legume mixtures largely depends on the soil factors (soil type, pH, water availability, etc.), crop species, crop variety, and crop management. Cereal-grain legume mixtures are particularly relevant to the poor (sandy) soils which are often unsuitable for the production of the components grown as a sole crop and are often linked with low-input farming systems.

Effects of Winter Cereals (Triticum aestivum L., Hordeum vulgare L., Triticosecale Wittmack) and Winter Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Intercropping on Weed Cover in South-Eastern and Central Hungary

“…We designed our experiments with three varieties of cereals; thus, we could examine the weed suppression abilities of wheat, barley and triticale. Barley has been found to have a better weed suppression ability in pure stands and cereal-pea intercropping [51][52][53]. Our results support the conclusions of other researchers [41], i.e., the amount of weed biomass was higher in wheat than in barley due to the fact that barley has a higher early growth rate than wheat [54].…”

Yield stability of winter wheat in intercrop makes better adaptation to climate conditions

“…Cereal-legume intercropping contribute to the mitigation to climate change, might reduce dependence on artificial fertilizers and the nitrogen fixing ability of legumes improves yield and crop security (Naudin et al, 2014;Pankou et al, 2021). Due to the complementer use of available resources, total yields are often higher compared to the sole crops, especially when N fertilization is low (Bedoussac et al, 2015;Justes et al, 2021;Księżak et al, 2023;Pelzer et al, 2012). In our investigation, we found similar results where the associated plots generally surpassed the control plots.…”

Field pea/spring triticale mixtures influenced iron and manganese concentrations in soil and forage plant uptake

“…According to Księżak et al. (2023), legume‐cereal mixtures can be grown for seed or green forage for use as livestock feed and can also be grown for green matter for use as green manure. Livestock forage obtained from legume‐cereal mixtures is rich in protein, carbohydrates (Genc‐Lermi, 2018; Pflueger et al., 2020), and minerals (Gill & Omokanye, 2018).…”

“…In turn, an excess of Fe and Mn interferes with the absorption of other elements, decreases the rate of photosynthesis, and causes oxidative stress (Demirevska-Kepova et al, 2004;Tripathi et al, 2015). According to Księżak et al (2023), legume-cereal mixtures can be grown for seed or green forage for use as livestock feed and can also be grown for green matter for use as green manure. Livestock forage obtained from legume-cereal mixtures is rich in protein, carbohydrates (Genc-Lermi, 2018;Pflueger et al, 2020), and minerals (Gill & Omokanye, 2018).…”