Simple yield-density equations for quantifying additive intercrops
Paper Details
Simple yield-density equations for quantifying additive intercrops
Abstract
Yield-density equations are not well explored in additive intercrops. A modification of the standard asymptotic yield-density equation for application to additive intercrops was proposed, and in turn, derived equations were found. With wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)/faba bean (bean; Vicia faba L.) intercropping systems, as an example, the equations were applied to quantify seed yields in three field experiments. Although, the standard asymptotic yield-density equation quantified each of the sole crop and the intercrop yields of the major component (wheat) well for all the three experiments, the modified version worked well in only one of the experiments. Even though the response of the minor component (bean) was not consistent across the experiments, in one of the experiments, in addition to using modified standard yield-density equation to quantify the total intercrop (wheat + bean) yield (plus sole crop of the minor component; bean), the wheat intercrop and bean intercrop yield were quantified simultaneously using the equations proposed here. In conclusion, for a standard additive intercrop, the proposed yield-density equations can quantify the yields well and should be adopted by others using similar design.
Adak MS, Ulukan H, Guler M. 1999. Determination of some agronomic traits in Turkish fababean (Vicia faba L.) lines. Fabis 42, 29-31.
Baumann DT, Bastiaans L, Kropff MJ. 2001. Competition and crop performance in a leek-celery intercropping system. Crop Science 41, 764-774.
Bellostas N, Hauggard-Nielsen H, Andersen MK, Jensen ES. 2003. Early interference dynamics in intercrops of pea, barley and oilseed rape. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture 21, 337-348.
Bleasdale JKA. 1984. Plant Physiology in Relation to Horticulture, 2nd edition. London: MacMillan.
Connolly J, Goma HC, Rahim K. 2001. The information content of indicators in intercropping research. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 87, 191-207.
Counce PA. 1987. Asymptotic and parabolic yield and linear nutrient content responses to rice population density. Agronomy Journal 79, 864-869.
Dolman G. 1985. Density trials with systematic designs on intercropped carrots and onions. PhD Thesis, University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Ellis RH, Salahi M. 1997. Optimizing inputs for contrasting cultivars: quantifying the effects of plant population density and nitrogen fertilizer on the yield of four cultivars of spring wheat. Aspects of Applied Biology 50, 139-146.
Ellis RH, Salahi M, Jones SA. 1999. Yield-density equations can be extended to quantify the effect of applied nitrogen and cultivar on wheat grain yield. Annals of Applied Biology 134, 347-352.
Gooding MJ, Pinyosinwat A, Ellis RH. 2002. Responses of wheat grain yield and quality to seed rate. Journal of Agricultural Science 138, 317-331.
Heath SB. 1970. An examination of the biological significance, which can be attributed to the quantitative relationships between plant population and crop yield. PhD Thesis, University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Helenius J, Jokinen K. 1994. Yield advantage and competition in intercropped oats (Avena sativa L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.): application of the hyperbolic yield-density model. Field Crops Research 37, 85-94.
Joliffe PA. 2000. The replacement series. Journal of Ecology 88, 371-385.
Khah EM, Roberts EH, Ellis RH. 1989. Effect of seed ageing on growth and yield of spring wheat at different plant-population densities. Field Crops Research 20, 175-190.
Law R, Watkinson AR. 1987. Response-surface analysis of two species competition: An experiment on Phleum arenarium and Vulpia fasciculata. The Journal of Ecology 75, 871-886.
Lopez-Bellido FJ, Lopez-Bellido L, Lopez-Bellido RJ. 2005. Competition, growth and yield of fababean (Vicia faba L.). European Journal of Agronomy 23, 359-400.
Neumann A, Werner J, Rauber R. 2009. Evaluation of yield-density relationships and optimization of intercrop compositions of field grown pea-oat intercrops using the replacement series and the response surface design. Field Crops Research 114, 286-294.
Park SE, Benjamin LR, Watkinson AR. 2002. Comparing biological productivity in cropping systems: A competition approach. The Journal of Applied Ecology 39, 416-426.
Salahi MM. 2002. Yield and quality of cereals in response to input and spatial variability. PhD Thesis, University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Shirtliffe SJ, Johnston AM. 2002. Yield-density relationships and optimum plant populations in two cultivars of solid-seeded dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown in Saskatchewan . Canadian Journal of Plant Science 82, 521-529.
Vandermeer J. 1989. The Ecology of intercropping. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University press.
Watkinson AR. 1981. Interference in pure and mixed populations of Agrostemma githago . Journal of Applied Ecology 18, 967-976.
Watkinson AR, Freckleton RP. 1997. Quantifying the impact of arbuscular mycorrhiza on plant competition. Journal of Ecology 85, 541–545.
Willey RW, Heath SB. 1969. The quantitative relationship between plant population and crop yield. Advances in Agronomy 21, 281-321.
Wright AJ. 1981. The analysis of yield-density relationship in binary mixtures using inverse polynomials. Journal of Agricultural Science 96, 561-567.
Yahuza I. 2011a. Extending yield/density equations for intercropping. PhD Thesis University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Yahuza I. 2011b. Yield-density equations and their application for agronomic research: a review. International Journal of Bioscience 1 (5), 1-17.
Yahuza I. 2012. Productivity of wheat /faba bean intercropping systems in response to sulphur fertilization and seed rate under contrasting management conditions. International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research (in press).
Ibrahim Yahuza, 2012. Simple yield-density equations for quantifying additive intercrops. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 2(5), 1-9.
Copyright © 2012 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.