Understanding the Response of Wheat-Chickpea Intercropping to Nitrogen Fertilization Using Agro-Ecological Competitive Indices under Contrasting Pedoclimatic Conditions

Abstract

Wheat–chickpea intercrops are not well studied, despite the importance of these two species in increasing agricultural profitability and ensuring nutritional and food security. The present study aims to assess the intercropping arable system’s services under contrasting field management and climate conditions. Simultaneously, this assessment focuses on the most agronomic and ecological indices widely used in the literature. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum durum L.cv. VITRON) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.cv. FLIP 90/13 C) were cultivated, both in sole crop and intercrop during the 2018/2019 growing season. A field experiment was carried out under controlled conditions at three contrasting pedoclimatic sites and under three levels of N fertilization. Both grain and N yield of mixture crop were significantly higher (+11%) when chickpea and durum wheat were grown together under either low or moderate N application. Soil N availability as compared to the critical level increased by more than 19% from flowering to harvest stage for intercropped wheat under low N application (N-30 and N-60), while it decreased significantly for intercropped chickpea. In rich N soils and under low rainfall conditions (site 1 and 3), intercropping was generally more advantageous for yield (+14%), N yield (+23%), and land use (103 and 119.5% for grain and N yield, respectively) only with reduced N fertilization as assessed using both land equivalent ratio (LER) and land-use efficiency (LUE). Competition dominance was directly affected by changes in climatic conditions over sites; intercropped wheat was more competitive than their respective chickpea under low rainfall conditions. These findings illustrate the crucial role of competitive index assessment in intercropping to promise a robust method for crop N and yield diagnosis during fertilization decision-making.

Environmentally Friendly Wheat Farming: Biological and Economic Efficiency of Three Treatments to Control Fungal Diseases in Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under Field Conditions

“…An integrated crop protection system (ICPS) can be established taking into account the other agricultural practices [11], namely, the fertilization system, which is in a close relationship with the protection system [12], the crop rotation system, used as a natural barrier against a wide range of soil-borne fungal pathogens, the intercropping system, and plant breeding by developing new cultivars adapted both to the specific climatic conditions of the regions and to biotic stresses [13][14][15]. For example, according to Flower et al (2019) [16], fallow and lupin in the farmer rotation system are the most effective at reducing pathogens levels.…”

Effects of Variety, Spacing and Nitrogen Application on Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) Growth and Yield in Embu County, Kenya

“…At 56 and 70 DAS plant height of the chickpea was conspicuously lower in the N0, N30, and N60 compared to the N90 application rates. In later stages of growth (84DAS), significance in plant height between N90 and the other rates (N0, N30, and N60) reduced, mainly due to senescence (Kherif et al 2021). The final plant height after N30 to N90 fertilization gave taller plants indicating that increased N-application rates can positively increase plant growth of chickpea.…”

The potential of durum wheat–chickpea intercropping to improve the soil available phosphorus status and biomass production in a subtropical climate

“…Numerous types of intercropping systems have been practiced widely in many countries throughout the world, including wheat–maize [ 12 ], maize–fava bean [ 13 ], wheat–pea and maize–soybean [ 14 ], and legume–cereal [ 15 ]. In particular, cereal–legume is the most common type of intercrop cultivated worldwide and particularly in North African countries [ 16 , 17 ]. Several studies investigating the effect of cereal–legume intercrops on rhizosphere soil P behavior have indicated that the legume species can solubilize the organic soil P through root-induced processes, such as acidification of the rhizosphere soil following the exudation of organic acids, including malate and citrate, and/or indirectly through microbial activity [ 18 ], thereby enhancing the P availability for the intercropped species, such as durum wheat (Dw) [ 19 ].…”