Intercropping Legume and Non-Legume Annual Crops for Agronomic and Economic Consideration.

Intercropping Legume and Non-Legume Annual Crops for Agronomic and Economic Considerations

 

S. S. Malhi

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Melfort, SK, Canada; E-mail: sukhdev.malhi@agr.gc.ca

 

Abstract

Intercropping, especially a mix of non-legume and legume crops can have many benefits, such as improving crop yield and/or economic returns, and reducing inputs. Two field experiments (Experiment 1 with canola-pea intercrop, Experiment 2 with barley-pea intercrop) were established at Star City, Saskatchewan in 2009 to determine the feasibility of intercropping annual non-legume (canola and barley) and legume (pea) crops for optimum yield, produce quality and economic returns. Barley and pea, or canola and pea were grown as monocrops and in combinations, with application of N fertilizer at 0, 40 and 80 kg N ha^-1 to monocrops barley and canola and their combination with pea. In 2009, compared to canola and pea as sole crops, seed yields improved with canola-pea intercropping. Application of N fertilizer decreased seed yield in both canola-pea intercrop systems. Compared to barley and pea as sole crops without applied N, seed yields improved with barley-pea intercropping. In the barley-pea intercropping system, application of N fertilizer increased total seed yield when the crops were seeded in alternate rows but little effect when seeded in the same row. The LER values were greater than 1  and economic returns were higher for both canola and barley when both crops were seeded as intercrop compared with as sole crops. In 2010, seed yield of canola or barley and pea in intercrop also produced higher seed yield than sole crops, and the LER values were greater than 1 for both intercropping combinations. In conclusion, intercropping increased crop yield, decreased land requirement and improved economic returns, and suggested its potential for use under both conventional and organic crop production systems.

Mode of Presentation: Poster