Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Influence of spatial arrangement in maize-soybean intercropping on root growth and water use efficiency

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background and aims

The relationship between transpiration and root distribution under different spatial arrangements of intercropping is poorly understood. The effects of three spatial arrangements in the maize (Zea mays L.) - soybean (Glycine max L.) intercropping on root distribution, transpiration, water use efficiency (WUE) and grain yield were examined.

Methods

Two-year field experiments were conducted using three spatial arrangements of 2 rows maize × 4 rows soybean (M2S4), 2 rows maize × 2 rows soybean (M2S2) and 4 rows maize × 2 rows soybean (M4S2), with their respective sole crops (monocrop) for comparison.

Results

The grain yield of maize in intercrops was higher than its monocrop and that of soybean in intercrops was lower than its monocrop. Except for M2S2 in 2014, there were yield advantages in intercropping due to improvement in the land use efficiency. Transpiration in maize was higher than in soybean regardless of the spatial arrangements. Transpiration of both maize and soybean was influenced by the spatial arrangements of the intercropping with M4S2 or M2S4 tending to have higher daily transpiration than monocrops and other spatial arrangements. Intercropping enhanced root length density (RLD) in both maize and soybean compared to the corresponding monocrop. RLD was higher and land equivalent ratio (LER) was lower under M2S2 than under other spatial arrangements of intercropping, WUE was higher in M4S2 than in other spatial arrangements.

Conclusions

Intercropping was more efficient in using the environmental resources than monocropping. The M4S2 spatial arrangement in the maize-soybean intercropping could be selected because of its sustainability and greater land and water use efficiency.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adiku SGK, Ozier-Lafontaine H, Bajazet T (2001) Patterns of root growth and water uptake of a maize-cowpea mixture grown under greenhouse conditions. Plant Soil 235:85–94

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • An P, Inoue T, Zheng MQ, Eneji AE, Inanaga S (2014) Agriculture on the Loess Plateau. Restoratioin and development of the degraded Loess Plateau. China, Springer Japan, pp 61–74

  • Baker JM, Vanbavel CHM (1987) Measurement of mass-flow of water in the stems of herbaceous plants. Plant Cell Environ 10:777–782

    Google Scholar 

  • Chui JAN, Shibles R (1984) Influence of spatial arrangements of maize on performance of an associated soybean intercrop. Field Crops Res 8:187–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clement A, Chalifour FP, Bharati MP, Gendron G (1992) Effects of nitrogen supply and spatial arrangement on the grain-yield of a maize soybean intercrop in a humid subtropical climate. Can J Plant Sci 72:57–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coll L, Cerrudo A, Rizzalli R, Monzon JP, Andrade FH (2012) Capture and use of water and radiation in summer intercrops in the south-east pampas of Argentina. Field Crops Res 134:105–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Kroon H (2007) Ecology. How do roots interact? Science (New York, NY) 318:1562–1563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolijanovic Z, Oljaca S, Kovacevic D, Simic M, Momirovic N, Jovanovic Z (2013) Dependence of the productivity of maize and soybean intercropping systems on hybrid type and plant arrangement pattern. Genetika-Belgrade 45:135–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Y, Duan A, Sun J, Li F, Liu Z, Liu H, Liu Z (2009) Crop coefficient and water-use efficiency of winter wheat/spring maize strip intercropping. Field Crops Res 111:65–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Y, Duan A, Qiu X, Liu Z, Sun J, Zhang J, Wang H (2010a) Distribution of roots and root length density in a maize/soybean strip intercropping system. Agr Water Manage 98:199–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Y, Duan A, Qiu X, Sun J, Zhang J, Liu H, Wang H (2010b) Distribution and use efficiency of photosynthetically active radiation in strip intercropping of maize and soybean. Agron J 102:1149–1157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Y, Duan A, Qiu X, Li X, Pauline U, Sun J, Wang H (2013) Modeling evapotranspiration in maize/soybean strip intercropping system with the evaporation and radiation interception by neighboring species model. Agr Water Manage 128:110–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao X, Wu M, Xu R, Wang X, Pan R, Kim HJ, Liao H (2014) Root interactions in a maize/soybean intercropping system control soybean soil-borne disease, red crown rot. PLoS One 9:e95031

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gersani M, O’Brien EE, Maina GM, Abramsky Z (2001) Tragedy of the commons as a result of root competition. J Ecol 89:660–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gong ZT, Zhang GL, Chen ZC (2007) Pedogenesis and soil taxonomy. Beijing Sci Press Publ, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Granier A, Huc R, Barigah ST (1996) Transpiration of natural rain forest and its dependence on climatic factors. Agric For Meteorol 78:19–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory PJ, Reddy MS (1982) Root growth in an intercrop of pearl millet/groundnut. Field Crops Res 5:241–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ham JM, Heilman JL, Lascano RJ (1990) Determination of soil water evaporation and transpiration from energy balance and stem flow measurements. Agric For Meteorol 52:287–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamel C, Furlan V, Smith DL (1991) N2-fixation and transfer in a field-grown mycorrhizal corn and soybean intercrop. Plant Soil 133:177–185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han SM (2002) Technical channels of high-efficient utilization of precipitation resource on dry-farming lands in loess plateau. Agr Res Arid Area 20:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Hess L, De Kroon H (2007) Effects of rooting volume and nutrient availability as an alternative explanation for root self/non-self discrimination. J Ecol 95:241–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillel D (1998a) Applications of soil physics. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillel D (1998b) Environmental soil physics. Acedemic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Javanmard A, Nasab ADM, Javanshir A, Moghaddam M, Janmohammadi H (2009) Forage yield and quality in intercropping of maize with different legumes as double-cropped. J Food Agric Environ 7:163–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaya KD, Bell CJ, Sale PW (2001) Modification of within-canopy microclimate in maize for intercropping in the lowland tropics. Proceedings of the 10th Australian Agronomy Conference, Hobart, Australia

  • Karasawa T, Takebe M (2012) Temporal or spatial arrangements of cover crops to promote arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization and P uptake of upland crops grown after nonmycorrhizal crops. Plant Soil 353:355–366

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li L, Sun J, Zhang F, Guo T, Bao X, Smith FA, Smith S (2006) Root distribution and interactions between intercropped species. Oecologia 147:280–290

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Q, Yang Z, Cui B (2008) Spatial and temporal variability of annual precipitation during 1961-2006 in Yellow River basin, China. J Hydrol 361:330–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loomis RS, Connor DJ (1992) Crop ecology: productivity and management in agricultural systems. Cambridge University Press

  • Lv Y, Francis C, Wu P, Chen X, Zhao X (2014) Maize-soybean intercropping interactions above and below ground. Crop Sci 54:914–922

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mao L, Zhang L, Li W, van der Werf W, Sun J, Spiertz H, Li L (2012) Yield advantage and water saving in maize/pea intercrop. Field Crops Res 138:11–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin M, Snaydon RW (1982) Root and shoot interactions between barley and field beans when intercropped. J Appl Ecol 19:263–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris R, Garrity D (1993) Resource capture and utilization in intercropping; non-nitrogen nutrients. Field Crops Res 343:319–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien EE, Gersani M, Brown JS (2005) Root proliferation and seed yield in response to spatial heterogeneity of below-ground competition. New Phytol 168:401–412

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ogindo H, Walker S (2005) Comparison of measured changes in seasonal soil water content by rainfed maize-bean intercrop and component cropping systems in a semi-arid region of southern Africa. Phys Chem Earth 3011(Parts A/B/C):799–808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oljaca S, Cvetkovic R, Kovacevic D, Vasic G, Momirovic N (2000) Effect of plant arrangement pattern and irrigation on efficiency of maize (Zea mays) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) intercropping system. J Agr Sci 135:261–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ong CK, Subrahamnyam P, Khan AAH (1991) The microclimate and productivity of a groundnut/millet intercrop during the rainy season. Agric For Meteorol 56:49–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouda SA, Mesiry TE, Adballah EF, Gaballah MS (2007) Effect of water stress on the yield of soybean and maize grown under different intercropping patterns. Austral J basic and. Appl Sci 1:578–585

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozier-Lafontaine H, Vercambre G, Tournebize R (1997) Radiation and transpiration partitioning in a maize-sorghum intercrop: test and evaluation of two models. Field Crop Res 49:127–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu X, Liu C, Zeng Y (2003) Changes of pan evaporation in the recent 40 years over the Yellow River basin. J Nat Resour 18:437–442

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao MR, Willey RW (1980) Evaluation of yield stability in intercropping-studies on sorghum-pigeonpea. Exp Agr 16:105–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren YY, Liu JJ, Wang ZL, Zhang SQ (2016) Planting density and sowing proportions of maize–soybean intercrops affected competitive interactions and water-use efficiencies on the loess plateau, China. Eur J Agron 72:70–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakuratani T (1981) A heat balance method for measuring water flux in the stem of intact plants. J Agric Meteorol 37:9–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sellami MH, Sifaoui MS (2003) Estimating transpiration in an intercropping system: measuring sap flow inside the oasis. Agr water. Manage 59:191–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Seran TH, Brintha I (2010) Review on maize based intercropping. J Agron Crop Sci 9:135–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmons DR, Holt RF, Moraghan JT (1966) Effect of corn population on yield evapotranspiration and water-use efficiency in northwest corn belt. Agron J 58:429–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tofinga MP, Paolini R, Snaydon RW (1993) A study of root and shoot interactions between cereals and peas in mixtures. J Agr Sci 120:13–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker S, Ogindo H (2003) The water budget of rainfed maize and bean intercrop. Phys Chem Earth 28(Parts A/B/C):919–926

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace J (2000) Increasing agricultural water use efficiency to meet future food production. Agric Ecosyst Environ 82:105–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Liu WZ, HF M, Dang TH (2010) Inorganic phosphorus fractions and phosphorus availability in a calcareous soil receiving 21-year superphosphate application. Pedosphere 20:304–310

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xia HY, Wang ZG, Zhao JH, Sun JH, Bao XG, Christie P, Zhang FS, Li L (2013) Contribution of interspecific interactions and phosphorus application to sustainable and productive intercropping systems. Field Crops Res 154:53–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZX, Sui CH (2005) Long-term trend of temperature in the Yellow River basin. Meteorol Mon 31:7–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang C, Chai Q, Huang G (2010) Root distribution and yield responses of wheat/maize intercropping to alternate irrigation in the arid areas of Northwest China. Plant Soil Environ 56:253–262

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang E, Huang G (2003) Temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of the crop root in intercropping system. J Appl Ecol 14:1301–1304

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang FS, Li L (2003) Using competitive and facilitative interactions in intercropping systems enhances crop productivity and nutrient-use efficiency. Plant Soil 248:305–312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Zhang L, Zhao J, Rustomji P, Hairsine P (2008) Responses of streamflow to changes in climate and land use/cover in the loess plateau, China. Water Resour Res 44:W00A07

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou LM, Li FM, Jin SL, Song YJ (2009) How two ridges and the furrow mulched with plastic film affect soil water, soil temperature and yield of maize on the semiarid loess plateau of China. Field Crops Res 113:41–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported through funding from the National Science and Technology Supporting Programs (2015BAD22B01), Project 111 of the Chinese Education Ministry (B12007) and Special-Funds of Scientific Research Programs of State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau (A314021403-C5). YLC acknowledges the support of “Hundred Talents” Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China

    Yuan Yuan Ren, Xiao Lin Wang, Sui Qi Zhang & Ying Long Chen

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yuan Yuan Ren & Xiao Lin Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China

    Sui Qi Zhang & Ying Long Chen

  4. School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Jairo Alberto Palta

  5. The UWA Institute of Agriculture, & School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, LB 5005, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia

    Ying Long Chen

Authors
  1. Yuan Yuan Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiao Lin Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sui Qi Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jairo Alberto Palta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ying Long Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sui Qi Zhang.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Martin Weih.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ren, Y.Y., Wang, X.L., Zhang, S.Q. et al. Influence of spatial arrangement in maize-soybean intercropping on root growth and water use efficiency. Plant Soil 415, 131–144 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3143-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3143-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation