Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea Intercrops
Intercropping of arable crops might provide yield benefits over monocrops. To assess the effect of sowing date and sowing ratio on biomass formation and competition over time, a two-year field experiment with wheat and pea plants was performed in Eastern Austria with two sowing times (autumn vs. spr...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| author | Reinhard W. Neugschwandtner Patrick Herz Alexander Böck Helmut Wagentristl Gerhard Moitzi Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra Jaroslav Bernas Tomáš Lošák Mohammad Ghorbani Elnaz Amirahmadi Kuanysh K. Zholamanov Hans-Peter Kaul |
| author_facet | Reinhard W. Neugschwandtner Patrick Herz Alexander Böck Helmut Wagentristl Gerhard Moitzi Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra Jaroslav Bernas Tomáš Lošák Mohammad Ghorbani Elnaz Amirahmadi Kuanysh K. Zholamanov Hans-Peter Kaul |
| author_sort | Reinhard W. Neugschwandtner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Intercropping of arable crops might provide yield benefits over monocrops. To assess the effect of sowing date and sowing ratio on biomass formation and competition over time, a two-year field experiment with wheat and pea plants was performed in Eastern Austria with two sowing times (autumn vs. spring) and with the following substitutive wheat–pea sowing ratios (%:%): 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 12.5:87.5 and 0:100. For both crops, facultative cultivars were used. Compared to spring-sowing, autumn-sowing resulted in earlier development of plants, taller plants, faster soil coverage, a higher crop growth rate up to mid-May in the first year and early June in the second year, more above-ground dry matter production and in the second year also in a higher land equivalent ratio (LER) of intercrops. Sowing ratios affected absolute and relative growth rates of wheat and pea plants. Wheat, which was generally the stronger partner in the intercrops, out-competed pea plants in all intercrops in the first year due to a higher early crop growth rate and in the second year, when the monocrop biomass of wheat was lower than that of pea plants, even in the intercrops with lower wheat and higher pea share. All intercrops resulted in a yield advantage compared to the monocrops as indicated by the LER. At final harvest, this yield advantage was over both sowing times and all four intercropping ratios 14% in the first and 10% in the second year. The competitive abilities of individual crops in mixtures, as indicated by the partial LER, were not affected by the sowing time. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d9b9967c768e419bbafb94423f6f45ce |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj-art-d9b9967c768e419bbafb94423f6f45ce2025-08-20T03:11:03ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952025-02-0115247710.3390/agronomy15020477Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea IntercropsReinhard W. Neugschwandtner0Patrick Herz1Alexander Böck2Helmut Wagentristl3Gerhard Moitzi4Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra5Jaroslav Bernas6Tomáš Lošák7Mohammad Ghorbani8Elnaz Amirahmadi9Kuanysh K. Zholamanov10Hans-Peter Kaul11Institute of Agronomy, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Agronomy, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Agronomy, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, AustriaExperimental Farm Groß-Enzersdorf, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Schloßhofer Straße 31, 2301 Groß-Enzersdorf, AustriaExperimental Farm Groß-Enzersdorf, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Schloßhofer Straße 31, 2301 Groß-Enzersdorf, AustriaDepartment of Agroecology and Plant Production, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Agroecosystems, Faculty of Agriculture and Technology, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1457, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech RepublicDepartment of Environmentalistics and Natural Resources, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Agroecosystems, Faculty of Agriculture and Technology, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1457, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech RepublicDepartment of Agroecosystems, Faculty of Agriculture and Technology, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1457, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech RepublicDepartment of Agronomy, Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agrobiology, Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, Abai Avenue 8, Almaty 050010, KazakhstanInstitute of Agronomy, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, AustriaIntercropping of arable crops might provide yield benefits over monocrops. To assess the effect of sowing date and sowing ratio on biomass formation and competition over time, a two-year field experiment with wheat and pea plants was performed in Eastern Austria with two sowing times (autumn vs. spring) and with the following substitutive wheat–pea sowing ratios (%:%): 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 12.5:87.5 and 0:100. For both crops, facultative cultivars were used. Compared to spring-sowing, autumn-sowing resulted in earlier development of plants, taller plants, faster soil coverage, a higher crop growth rate up to mid-May in the first year and early June in the second year, more above-ground dry matter production and in the second year also in a higher land equivalent ratio (LER) of intercrops. Sowing ratios affected absolute and relative growth rates of wheat and pea plants. Wheat, which was generally the stronger partner in the intercrops, out-competed pea plants in all intercrops in the first year due to a higher early crop growth rate and in the second year, when the monocrop biomass of wheat was lower than that of pea plants, even in the intercrops with lower wheat and higher pea share. All intercrops resulted in a yield advantage compared to the monocrops as indicated by the LER. At final harvest, this yield advantage was over both sowing times and all four intercropping ratios 14% in the first and 10% in the second year. The competitive abilities of individual crops in mixtures, as indicated by the partial LER, were not affected by the sowing time.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/2/477<i>Triticum aestivum</i><i>Pisum sativum</i>absolute growth raterelative growth rateland equivalent ratio |
| spellingShingle | Reinhard W. Neugschwandtner Patrick Herz Alexander Böck Helmut Wagentristl Gerhard Moitzi Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra Jaroslav Bernas Tomáš Lošák Mohammad Ghorbani Elnaz Amirahmadi Kuanysh K. Zholamanov Hans-Peter Kaul Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea Intercrops Agronomy <i>Triticum aestivum</i> <i>Pisum sativum</i> absolute growth rate relative growth rate land equivalent ratio |
| title | Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea Intercrops |
| title_full | Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea Intercrops |
| title_fullStr | Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea Intercrops |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea Intercrops |
| title_short | Crop Growth Analysis of Autumn- and Spring-Sown Wheat–Pea Intercrops |
| title_sort | crop growth analysis of autumn and spring sown wheat pea intercrops |
| topic | <i>Triticum aestivum</i> <i>Pisum sativum</i> absolute growth rate relative growth rate land equivalent ratio |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/2/477 |
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