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Higher yield and lower carbon emission by intercropping maize with rape, pea, and wheat in arid irrigation areas

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Abstract

Food security has become a global issue, seriously threatening developing countries owing to fast-growing human populations and declining availability of land for agriculture. Increasing crop yields could be achieved by intensive systems, but these usually need higher energy and emit more carbon (C). Here, we studied crop productivity, energy yields, and C emissions of intercropping versus sole cropping. We tested maize–wheat, maize–rape, maize–pea, and soybean–wheat intercropping, and sole crops as controls in field experiments at Wuwei experimental station in from 2009 to 2011 in a randomized block design with three replicates. We used an evaluation index integrating yield and environmental factors. Results showed a yield increase of 27 % for maize–wheat, 41 % for maize–rape, and 42 % for maize–pea versus sole crops. Water use efficiency increased by 25 % for maize–wheat intercropping over sole wheat, 152 % for maize–rape over sole rape, and 95 % for maize–pea over sole pea. The three maize–crop intercrops produced 68, 308, and 256 % more energy yield than did the sole wheat, sole rape, and sole pea crops, respectively. They emitted 42, 52, and 45 % less C per unit of water in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively, compared with the sole maize crop. The maize-based intercropping received a the highest evaluation index (0.82 out of 1.0) among the systems evaluated, clearly showing that the maize-based intercropping is the most effective and sustainable cropping system for arid irrigation areas.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (2012BAD14B10), the National Natural Science Fund (31160265), and the Special Fund for Agro- Scientific Research in the Public Interest (201103001). The authors also appreciate the assistance of the staff at Wuwei experimental station in managing field plots.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Qiang Chai, Anzhen Qin, Yantai Gan & Aizhong Yu

  2. College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Qiang Chai, Anzhen Qin & Aizhong Yu

  3. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Swift Current, SK, S9H 3X2, Canada

    Yantai Gan

Authors
  1. Qiang Chai
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  2. Anzhen Qin
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  3. Yantai Gan
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  4. Aizhong Yu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yantai Gan.

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Qiang Chai & Anzhen Qin both authors contributed equally to the study.

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Chai, Q., Qin, A., Gan, Y. et al. Higher yield and lower carbon emission by intercropping maize with rape, pea, and wheat in arid irrigation areas. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 34, 535–543 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-013-0161-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-013-0161-x

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