Trade-offs and synergies of plant traits co-drive efficient nitrogen use in intercropping systems

Yang, Hao; Zhang, Wei‐Ping; Xu, Huasen; Yu, Rui-Peng; Su, Yue; Surigaoge, Surigaoge; Wang, Peixuan; Yang, Xin; Lambers, Hans; Li, Long

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2023.109093

Cited by 12 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 47 publications

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“…In the high N strategy, prevalent in China, N doses can be grouped into three application modes: 1) at a certain high dose for annual crops as the total N rate for the entire intercrop (Li et al, 2011); 2) intercrops receive the weighted average of the respective N doses of the component species grown as monocrops, based on their respective land shares in the intercrop (Gao et al, 2022); 3) intercrops receive the sum of N doses in the corresponding monocrops, a method commonly employed in additive design intercrops (Feng et al, 2020). In these three fundamentally different N use strategies, the total N input can be as high as 300 kg N ha −1 (e.g., Yang et al, 2023), which can easily cause N surpluses (Wang et al, 2022).…”

Section: Species-tailored N Fertilisation Effectively Meets Cereal Gr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity and resource use efficiency in strip intercropping in the Netherlands

Wang

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Intercropping is the planned cultivation of multiple crop species in one field for at least a portion of their growing periods. Most intercropping in Western Europe is in the form of full mixtures or alternate row intercrops of cereals and legumes in low-input or organic agriculture, usually harvesting species as bulk. Little use is made of strip intercropping with synthetic inputs such as fertilisers and biocides, which are routinely used in conventional agriculture. Strip intercropping with conventional management is the prevalent intercropping system in China.In these systems, the products are usually harvested separately. Yield advantages in strip intercropping mainly arise from border row plants in intercrop strips outperforming inner row plants and monocropped plants. Limited knowledge exists on yield and resource use in strip intercropping under conventional management in Western Europe. This thesis explores relationships between yield and the acquisition of light and nitrogen (N) in strip intercropping of various species combinations under conventional management in the Netherlands.A two-year field experiment was conducted with conventional management in Wageningen, the Netherlands. Four crop species, maize (Zea mays L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), faba bean (Vicia faba L.), and pea (Pisum sativum L.), were combined as six bi-specific strip intercrops. Species were grown in 1.5 m-wide strips comprising several plant rows. N fertiliser was applied according to locally recommended doses tailored to species growth demands. In intercrops, the species strips were managed identically to the monocrops, for instance with the same N input per unit area within the species strip in the intercrop compared to the whole field of the corresponding monocrop. Grain yield, biomass, and N uptake were determined on a per-row and per-strip basis. Intercrop light capture at the per-strip level was estimated using an intercrop light capture model, while at the per-row level, it was estimated through a random ray tracing model, using measured plant height and leaf area index as inputs. Light use efficiency (LUE) was then calculated as the ratio of aboveground biomass to captured light.Intercrops involving maize were relay intercrops due to the later sowing and harvesting of maize compared to the other species. These relay intercrops had in most cases a land equivalent ratio (LER) for grain yield and biomass higher than one, and a net effect (NE; the difference between total intercrop production and expected intercrop production) for grain yield and biomass greater than zero. The simultaneous intercrops, involving wheat, faba bean, and pea, did not show such advantages.In both monocrops and intercrops, grain yield showed a stronger correlation with total grain number per unit land area (GN) than with thousand-grain weight (TGW). In relay intercrops, improved early-season light availability favoured early-sown species, increasing their GN, while TGW decreased, likely due to a grain number-grain weight trade-off. Maize had incre...

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Section: Species-tailored N Fertilisation Effectively Meets Cereal Gr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity and resource use efficiency in strip intercropping in the Netherlands

Wang

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Trait-Based Approaches to Improve Nutrient Uptake Efficiency in Crops

Joshi,

Maiti

2024

Plant Functional Traits for Improving Productivity

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Leaf functional traits and ecological strategies of common plant species in evergreen broad-leaved forests on Huangshan Mountain

Wang,

Lv,

Wang

et al. 2024

J. For. Res.

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Trade-offs and synergies of plant traits co-drive efficient nitrogen use in intercropping systems

Cited by 12 publications

References 47 publications

Productivity and resource use efficiency in strip intercropping in the Netherlands

Productivity and resource use efficiency in strip intercropping in the Netherlands

Trait-Based Approaches to Improve Nutrient Uptake Efficiency in Crops

Leaf functional traits and ecological strategies of common plant species in evergreen broad-leaved forests on Huangshan Mountain

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