Post on 25-May-2015
description
Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
Intercropping maize and mungbean to intensify summer cropping
systems in Queensland, Australia
Joseph Eyre
Richard Routley
Daniel Rodriguez
John Dimes
2© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
SIMLESA aims at increasing farm-household food security and productivity, in the context of climate risk and change, through the development of more resilient, profitable and sustainable maize-
legume farming systems
30% increase in maize yields and 30% reduction in risk 500,000 households over the next 10 years
Improved range of maize and legume varieties available for smallholders
Socio-economic characterization
Input and output
value chain
Whole farm resource
allocations
More productive, resilient and sustainable smallholder
maize-legume practices, tactics
and strategies
Scaling out and capacity building
Project background
3© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Project background
Similar agro-ecologies
4© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Objective:
The sustainable intensification of cropping with an emphasis on maize
and legumes
5© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
How intensify?
6© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Maize
Intensifying resource use
Legume
Double cropping
7© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Maize
Legume
Intensifying resource use Intercropping
8© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Maize
Legume
Intensifying resource use Relay cropping
9© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Intercropping 2010-2011
• 2 by 2 row replacement intercropping– Suitable for mechanisation– No opportunity for relay
• Maize-mungbean– Opportunities to increase maize
production in Qld• Light competition managed with
multiple maize population densities
10© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Materials & Methods
• cv. Emerald and cv. 34N43 (CRM 110) sown 1/2/2011 at Gatton RS• 0.75 m rows in Nth-Sth orientation• Nitrogen (150 Kg/Ha N) and rain fed (water unlimited)• 2, 2 row replacement intercropping with consistent intra row plant
spacing– Sole Mungbean (Mb) 20 pl/m2
– Sole Maize (Mz) 2 pl/m2
– Sole Mz 4 pl/m2
– Sole Mz 8 pl/m2
– Intercropped Mb 10 pl/m2 Mz 1 pl/m2 – Intercropped Mb 10 pl/m2 Mz 2 pl/m2 – Intercropped Mb 10 pl/m2 Mz 4 pl/m2
• Soil water and light interception monitored intensively• 4 replicates (blocks)• 4.5 m2 harvest area
11© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Maize population density– Yield plateau 4-8 plants/m2 monoculture– No plateau for intercropped maize?
Population density (plants/m2)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Yie
ld (
t/H
a)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Sole maizeIntercropped maize
l.s.d. (p=0.05)
12© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Maize intra-specific competition; Land use Equivalence Ratio (LER)– Intercropped maize more land efficient (Partial LER>0.5)
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
IC 16.5 cm intra row (t/ha)
Sole 16.5 cm intra row (t/ha) = Partial LER
13© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Maize intra-specific competition– Intercropped maize more land efficient (Partial LER>0.5)– Maize is more susceptible to intra-specific competition
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
14© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Maize yields; intercropped vs. sole– Intercropped maize more land efficient (partial LER>0.5)– Maize is more susceptible to intraspecific competition– Intercropping can’t compensate for reduced land area
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
≠
15© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Maize yields; intercropped vs. sole– Intercropped maize more land efficient (partial LER>0.5)– Maize is more susceptible to intraspecific competition– Intercropping can’t compensate for reduced land area
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
≠
16© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Mungbean yields; intercropped vs. sole – High sole crop yield
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole 2.40a
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.73d
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.89c
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 1.07b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.59
17© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Mungbean yields; intercropped vs. sole – High sole crop yield– Intercropping reduced mungbean yield partly due to population
decreases
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole 2.40a 12ab
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.73d 8c
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.89c 10bc
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 1.07b 13a
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.59 3
18© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Mungbean competition; intercropped vs. sole – High sole crop yield– Intercropping reduced mungbean yield partly due to population
decreases – Susceptible to interspecific competition (Partial LER<0.5)
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.30c
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.37b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.45a
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.02
19© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Preliminary results
• Total LER; intercropped vs. sole – No effect of maize population– Similar land area could produce both crops in monoculture
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.70a 0.30c 1.00a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.58b 0.37b 0.95a
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.55b 0.45a 0.99a
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.04 0.02 n.s.
20© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Conclusions
• Intercropped maize is more land efficient than sole maize, but can’t completely compensate for decreased area
• Mungbean is susceptible to competition from maize
Future research• Investigate novel temporal (i.e. relay cropping) and spatial arrangements to
manage intra- & inter-specific competition
• Famer interest in wheat-mungbean, millet-mungbean, & sorghum-chickpea relay
21© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011
Acknowledgements
DEEDI
James McLean
Richard Routley
John Dimes
Solomon Fekybelu
Aldo Zeppa
Scott Geddes
QAAFI Daniel Rodriguez