Optimization of spatial soil occupation in rainfed intercropping system based on olive trees and

annual crops in northern Morocco

Razouk R, Daoui K, Kajji A, Ramdani A, Chergaoui A Research Unit of Agronomy Plant Physiology National Institute for Agrocultural Research Morocco

Introduction

Morocco localized in the north of Africa far from Europe by 14 km, is faced to climatic change.

Average annual rainfall ranged from 100 mm in the south to more than 1000 mm in the north

Impact of rainfall variability and scarcity on annual crops yields

Cereals

Figure 2. Evolution des rendement des principales légumineuses alimentaires

0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1

1,2

1,4

1,6

61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99

Année

Ren

dem

ent (

t/ha)

FEVE POIS CHICHE POIS LENTILLE

Legume crops

In order to face climatic change, Moroccan government under the GREN MOROCAIN PLAIN plans the reconversion of 1 million ha of cereals to trees as (olive, almond and figus trees) witch are more adaptable to drought and rainfall variation.

The facts ?!

Objective: reconversion from cereals to trees Result: Integration trees into cereals wich is the common practice

The need for arable land is crutial

Looking for land to cultivat even if on high slope

!

!

!

!

Photo!Le!labour!de!sol!mécanique,!le!long!de!la!pente,!pour!l’installation!d’une!culture!annuelle!dans!des!oliveraies!aussi!bien!âgée!que!jeune!(Taounate)!!

Rather than to wait for at least for more than three year olive production, farmers need cereal grain annualy

Sowing wheat with no respect to olive tree and at harvest time we are looking where are olive trees?!

Ongoing reconversion process under marginal land and with slop ones

The past: olive tree practices

The present: plantation of olive tree on cereal area

Reconversion Integration of olive tree into annual crops

1 M ha + x ha = Agroforetry system

System that shoudl be optimized in a global way

Result

a

b

c

d

e

f

Main questions raised What can we learn from farmer’s practices

(advantages and disadvantages)?

Witch crops can be mixed with olive trees?

Witch kind of practices should be done to

optimize the System?

Witch spatio toporal arrangelent should be adopted for the system?

! !!

Where the associations could be used or recommended according to soil fertility

and climatic conditions?

In Morocco AGROFORESTRY

is practiced in mountainous and

oasis regions where water and/

or land resources are limited. In

these locations many crops are

mixed and their monitoring is

complicated.

Unfortunately, few scientific

studies were dedicated to such

system and someone might

describe it as primitive, none

productive and must been

changed.

Hight Mountain of Atlas: Apple tree luzerne

Midle Mountain of Atlas: Peach – Faba bean

Saïs Plain: Olive tree and Barley Orge

Souss Massa region Argan trees– Barley-livestok

Saïs: Prunus and potato

North of Morocco : Almond and peas.

a

b

c

d

e

f

Fig. Olive tree associated with different crops; Wheat

(a), barley (b), Faba bean (c), Peas (d), Onion (e), Potato (f)

In fact, in a previous study, we showed that 75% of farmers growing olive trees are also producing annual crops between tree rows. T h o s e c r o p s i n c l u d e d ce rea l s , l egumes , and vegetables. Cereals are dominant in 50% of land occupation. Farmers ind ica ted tha t t echn i ca l i n te rven t i ons ( p l o u g h i n g , f e r t i l i z i n g ) concerns mainly annual crops and then can promote olive tree production

Although some farmers found that association of olive

tree and annual crops may have negative effects on the

production of this combination, they adopt it for the

following reasons:

! Management of olive tree production (ploughing,

fertilisation, weed control …) may be more profitable if it

is practiced on crop cultivated between rows.

! Management of inter rows crops profit also to olive

tree.

! Plantation of olive tree alone may be subjected to

damage due to grazing, cultivating intercrops may

prevent such risk.

Cereals Legume crops Forage Vegetables

Rainfed T r i t i c u m aestivum

Vicia faba Avena sativa

T r i t i c u m turgidum

C i c e r arietinum

H o r d e u m vulgara

H o r d e u m vulgare

Lens culinaris

P h a s e o l u s vulgaris

Irrigated Zea mays S o l a n u m tuberosum

Allium cepa

Table 1. Cultivated species as intercrop on olive according to water irrigation availability

Minimum Maximum

Cereals 0 2

Legume crops 0.50 2

Vegetables 0.50 2

Table 2. Distance (m) left from olive tree trunk to the first line of intercrop

A c c o r d i n g t o f a r m e r ’s

estimations: legume crops

like faba bean do not affect

o l i v e p r o d u c t i o n

comparatively to cereals

(durum or soft wheat or

barley). In this second case,

olive production is reduced

by about 39% when cereals

are intercropped between the

rows . However, farmer

produces an added value of

c e r e a l s o r l e g u m e o f

respectively 9 and 7 qx/ha..

Some Results

The values marked by the same letters are statistically equal. T1: annual crops sown below tree canopy; T2: annual crops sown from the limit of tree canopy; T3: annual crops sown from the limit of tree canopy with impluviums placed around trees.

Figure 3: Olive yield in intercropping systems with different annual crops under rainfed conditions.

! !Photo! 13.! Petit! pois! en! intercalaire! dans! une!jeune!oliveraie!

Photo! 14.Fève! en! intercalaire! dans! une! jeune!oliveraie!

!Photo!15.!Fève!cultivée!dans!une!oliveraie!avec!respect!d’un!écartement!convenable!!

Comparatively to cereal Mechanical weeding during february on winter legume crops may reduce weed competiton impact on boat crops and also creat water storage structures

Indirect water harvesting during Winter

Orge%

%Blé%dur%

%Blé%tendre%

%Figure%7.%Modèles%d’évolution%de%la%production%en%biomasse%(g/m%linaire)%à%différentes%distances%de%l’olivier%

pour%(Lignes%de%semis%EstCouest)%

!

y!=!$5,8349x2 +!61,039x!$ 122,95R²!=!0,6699

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Biom

asse!to

tale!en!g!/!m

!lineaire

Distance!en!(!m!)!entre!la!ligne!de!semis!et!l'arbre!de!l'olivier!

y!=!$0,7699x2 +!14,359x!$ 17,97R²!=!0,3554

0102030405060

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Biom

asse!to

tale!en!g!/!m

!lineaire

Distance!en!(!m!)!entre!la!ligne!de!semis!et!l'arbre!de!l'olivier!

y!=!$0,4972x2 +!7,2926x!+!5,5529R²!=!0,1279

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Biom

asse!en!g/!m

!lineaire

!

Distance!en!(!m!)!entre!la!ligne!de!semis!et!l'arbre!de!l'olivier!

Côté ensoleillé Côté ombragé

Total Biomasse

!Photo!11.!Cas!du!blé,!les!lignes!de!semis!situées!à!la!limite!de!la!frondaison!sont!de!plus!

courte!taille,!moins!vigoureuse!et!moins!productives.!(Ouazzane!Mars!2012)!(Blé)!

!(Fève)!

!(Lentille)!

!Photos!12.!les!!plantules!sur!les!lignes!de!semis!situées!à!la!limite!de!la!frondaison!sont!mortes!dans!les!différents!(blé,!fève!et!de!la!lentille).!(Station!expérimentale!Douyet!2012)!!!

Sunny side Shaded side

Barley'

'Durum'wheat'

'Soft'wheat'

'Figure'3.'Models'of'cereals'plant'height'evolution'at'different'distance'from'olive'tree''

(sowing'rows'oriented'North'–'South)'

!

y!=!$1,39x2 +!16,99x!$ 22,24R²!=!0,75

05

10152025303540

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

H!(cm)

Distance!between!olive!tree!and!sowing!lines!!(!m!)

y!=!$2,32x2 +!27,44x!$ 56,13R²!=!0,73

05

10152025303540

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

H!(cm)

Distance!!between!sowing!olive!tree!and!sowing!lines!(m)

y!=!$2,22x2 +!25,63x!$ 47,15R²!=!0,76

05

10152025303540

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

H!(cm)

Distance!between!olive!tree!and!sowing!line!(!m!)

Plant hight

y = -1,1601x2 + 14,186x + 15,092 R² = 0,5387

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 0,6 1,2 1,8 2,4 3 3,6 4,2 4,8 5,4 6 6,6 7,2 7,8 8,4 9 9,6

rend

emen

t gra

in e

n g

/ m

liné

aire

Distance en (m) entre la ligne de semis et l'arbre de référence

y = -1,5095x2 + 13,769x + 20,962 R² = 0,52221

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5 5,5 6 6,5 7 7,5 8 8,5 9 9,5 10

rend

emen

t gra

in e

n g/

m li

néai

re

Distance entre la ligne de semis et l'arbre de référence (m)

Blé tendre

Blé dur

y = -2,1286x2 + 24,142x - 12,875 R² = 0,90973

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 1,4 2,8 4,2 5,6 7 8,4 9,8

rend

emen

t gra

in (

g).

m li

néai

re

Distance entre la ligne de semis et l'arbre de référence (m)

y = -0,3981x2 + 4,7697x - 0,9962 R² = 0,56815

0 2 4 6 8

10 12 14 16 18

0 1,2 2,4 3,6 4,8 6 7,2 8,4 9,6

rend

emen

t gra

in g

/ m

liné

aire

Distance entre la ligne de semis et l'arbre de référence (m)

Lentilles

Fèverole

Figure 1: Growing seasons of wheat, faba bean and coriander in relation with fruit and shoot growth of olive tree in intercropping system.

Average annual rainfall ranged from 100 mm in the south to more than 1000 mm in the north

Witch spatial arrangement to propose according to trees and crop

requirements and soil fertility ?

In arid and semi-arid

conditions, alley cropping

may be a good choice to

face climatic change.

In fact choosing a better

combination of tree and

annual crops is necessary.

Annual crops should be

implemented at least at

the limit of tree foliage;

otherwise both crops in the

association will suffer from

competition for water and

light.

Conclusions We are just starting !

Many thanks to my colleagues, farmers, students, technicians etc…