Intercropping wheat and barley with N-fixing legume species: a method for improving ground cover, N-use efficiency and productivity in low input systems

Abstract

Two cereal cropping systems are described which, through the introduction of a leguminous intercrop, increased productivity, nitrogen output and ground cover of the systems in the absence of added nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen-fixing legumes were cultivated between rows of wheat or barley grown at low levels of soil nitrogen, and mostly under rainfed conditions, in Mexico between 1989 and 1992. None of the legumes tested reduced yields of the cereal crop in comparison to controls where cereal yields were in the range of 1–4 t/ha, while the extra total biomass from legumes in some cases more than doubled productivity. Different legume crops were tested to demonstrate the adaptability of the system to the varying needs of farmers. The intercropped legumes achieved dry biomass yields as high as 6·5 t/ha in the case of a sequentially cropped forage crop of hairy vetch, or 1·4 t/ha of dry beans plus 3·5 t/ha of green residue in the case of Vicia faba. Total biomass in the intercropped situation gave land equivalent ratios as high as 1·54. Light measurements inside the crop canopies indicated that the intercropped systems intercepted a higher proportion of the incident solar radiation than the cereal monocrop, presumably accounting for the large differences in total biomass produced. In addition, with leaf nitrogen levels of 3·8%, it is assumed that the intercropped legumes fixed considerably more nitrogen than was removed by the wheat crop. The potential of the system to stabilize erodible soils by increasing ground cover as well as by raising inputs of soil organic matteris discussed.