Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 581-594 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Plant and soil |
| Volume | 481 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| Early online date | 18 Aug 2022 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2022 |
Abstract
Purpose: Increasing crop yield to ensure global food security while decreasing carbon footprint (CF) is a challenge for sustainable agriculture. Although intercropping is suggested as a potential pathway in this regard, the balance between yield advantage and CF is unclear, especially under different nitrogen (N) application rates. Methods: A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of oat/sunflower intercropping and N application rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg ha−1) on yield advantages, N uptake, and CF. Results: The overall land equivalent ratio of oat/sunflower intercropping decreased from 1.33 to 1.07 with increasing N fertilization, which implies the potential N reduction to maintain crop yield. Without fertilization, the yield advantage of intercropping was 28–32% and 18–47% higher for oat and sunflower, respectively compared with corresponding monocultures. However, this yield advantage decreased with increasing fertilization, especially for oat. The border rows contributed more than one-third of the yield for intercropped oat without N fertilization, but their contribution decreased with increasing N fertilization. However, the contribution of border rows to intercropped sunflower yield was independent of N fertilization and remained around 69–75%. Overall, oat/sunflower relay strip intercropping maximizes the productivity by border row effects due to reduced N fertilization demand. Furthermore, intercropping decreased the CF relative to monoculture, especially without N fertilization. Conclusion: Intercropping can act as a win–win strategy for sustainable agriculture in Northwest China with higher productivity and lower carbon footprint.
Keywords
- Border row effect, Carbon footprint, N fertilization, Strip intercropping, Yield
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Soil Science
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Plant Science
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Plant and soil, Vol. 481, No. 1-2, 12.2022, p. 581-594.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Yield advantage and carbon footprint of oat/sunflower relay strip intercropping depending on nitrogen fertilization
AU - Qian, Xin
AU - Zhou, Jie
AU - Luo, Bolun
AU - Dai, Hongcui
AU - Hu, Yuegao
AU - Ren, Changzhong
AU - Peixoto, Leanne
AU - Guo, Laichun
AU - Wang, Chunlong
AU - Zamanian, Kazem
AU - Zhao, Baoping
AU - Zang, Huadong
AU - Zeng, Zhaohai
N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful for the financial support from the earmarked fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-07-B-5), the Science and Technology Key Program of Inner Mongolia (2021SZD0017), and the Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A20218). Contribution of Hongcui Dai was supported by the funding for Study Abroad Program by the Government of Shandong Province. We also thank Chen Wang, Qisheng Yang, and members of the Baicheng Academy of Agricultural Sciences for their field experiment assistance.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Purpose: Increasing crop yield to ensure global food security while decreasing carbon footprint (CF) is a challenge for sustainable agriculture. Although intercropping is suggested as a potential pathway in this regard, the balance between yield advantage and CF is unclear, especially under different nitrogen (N) application rates. Methods: A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of oat/sunflower intercropping and N application rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg ha−1) on yield advantages, N uptake, and CF. Results: The overall land equivalent ratio of oat/sunflower intercropping decreased from 1.33 to 1.07 with increasing N fertilization, which implies the potential N reduction to maintain crop yield. Without fertilization, the yield advantage of intercropping was 28–32% and 18–47% higher for oat and sunflower, respectively compared with corresponding monocultures. However, this yield advantage decreased with increasing fertilization, especially for oat. The border rows contributed more than one-third of the yield for intercropped oat without N fertilization, but their contribution decreased with increasing N fertilization. However, the contribution of border rows to intercropped sunflower yield was independent of N fertilization and remained around 69–75%. Overall, oat/sunflower relay strip intercropping maximizes the productivity by border row effects due to reduced N fertilization demand. Furthermore, intercropping decreased the CF relative to monoculture, especially without N fertilization. Conclusion: Intercropping can act as a win–win strategy for sustainable agriculture in Northwest China with higher productivity and lower carbon footprint.
AB - Purpose: Increasing crop yield to ensure global food security while decreasing carbon footprint (CF) is a challenge for sustainable agriculture. Although intercropping is suggested as a potential pathway in this regard, the balance between yield advantage and CF is unclear, especially under different nitrogen (N) application rates. Methods: A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of oat/sunflower intercropping and N application rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg ha−1) on yield advantages, N uptake, and CF. Results: The overall land equivalent ratio of oat/sunflower intercropping decreased from 1.33 to 1.07 with increasing N fertilization, which implies the potential N reduction to maintain crop yield. Without fertilization, the yield advantage of intercropping was 28–32% and 18–47% higher for oat and sunflower, respectively compared with corresponding monocultures. However, this yield advantage decreased with increasing fertilization, especially for oat. The border rows contributed more than one-third of the yield for intercropped oat without N fertilization, but their contribution decreased with increasing N fertilization. However, the contribution of border rows to intercropped sunflower yield was independent of N fertilization and remained around 69–75%. Overall, oat/sunflower relay strip intercropping maximizes the productivity by border row effects due to reduced N fertilization demand. Furthermore, intercropping decreased the CF relative to monoculture, especially without N fertilization. Conclusion: Intercropping can act as a win–win strategy for sustainable agriculture in Northwest China with higher productivity and lower carbon footprint.
KW - Border row effect
KW - Carbon footprint
KW - N fertilization
KW - Strip intercropping
KW - Yield
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136159859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11104-022-05661-5
DO - 10.1007/s11104-022-05661-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85136159859
VL - 481
SP - 581
EP - 594
JO - Plant and soil
JF - Plant and soil
SN - 0032-079X
IS - 1-2
ER -