Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T07:49:18.265Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A study of root and shoot interactions between cereals and peas in mixtures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. P. Tofinga ,
R. Paolini  and
R. W. Snaydon
M. P. Tofinga
Affiliation:
Agricultural Botany Department, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AS, UK
R. Paolini
Affiliation:
Agricultural Botany Department, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AS, UK
R. W. Snaydon
Affiliation:
Agricultural Botany Department, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AS, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Wheat, barley and two morphologically contrasting cultivars of peas (leafy and semi-leafless) were grown in pure stands, at standard agricultural densities, and in additive mixtures of cereals with peas. The stands were grown in boxes in the field, and partitions were used to separate the effects of root and shoot interactions. The cereals and peas were either planted at the same time, or one species was planted 10 days before the other. The origin of the N present in each species was determined by applying N fertilizer labelled with 15N.

Both cultivars of peas had greater shoot and root competitive abilities than wheat or barley, probably because of their larger seed size; leafy peas had greater shoot and root competitive abilities than semi-leafless peas. Sowing peas after cereals reduced their competitive ability.

The relative yield total (RYT) of cereal-pea mixtures, based on total biomass, averaged 1·6 when only the root systems interacted, and 1·4 when only the shoot systems interacted, but did not differ significantly from 10 when both root and shoot systems interacted. RYT values were greater when peas were grown with wheat, rather than with barley, and when peas were sown at the same time as the cereals.

Shoot competition from peas increased the N% of cereals, but substantially reduced their total N content, because biomass yield was reduced. Shoot competition from cereals had no effect on the N% of peas, and only slightly reduced their total N content. Shoot competition between cereals and peas had no significant effect upon the proportion of N derived from various sources by either cereals or peas.

Root competition from peas significantly reduced both the N% and total N content of cereals. Root competition from cereals had little effect on the N% of peas, but significantly reduced their total N content and increased the proportion of N derived from rhizobial fixation from 76 to 94%. Since cereals and peas largely used different sources of N, resource complementarity for N was probably an important component of intercropping advantage, when the roots of cereals and peas shared soil resources.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 120 , Issue 1 , February 1993 , pp. 13 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Black, J. N. (1958). Competition between plants of different initial seed sizes in swards of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) with particular reference to leaf area and the light microclimate. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 9, 299–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brougham, R. W., Ball, P. R. & Williams, W. M. (1978). The ecology and management of white clover-based pastures. In Plant Relations in Pastures (Ed. Wilson, J. R.), pp. 309–324. Melbourne: CSIRO.Google Scholar
Burden, J. J. (1978). Mechanisms of disease control in heterogeneous plant populations – an ecologist's view. In Plant Disease Epidemiology (Eds Scott, P. R. & Bainbridge, A.), pp. 193–200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Connolly, J. (1986). On difficulties with replacement-series methodology in mixture experiments. Journal of Applied Ecology 23, 125–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chalk, P. M. (1985). Estimation of N2 fixation by isotope dilution: an appraisal of techniques involving 15N enrichment and their application. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 17, 389–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Wit, C. T. (1960). On Competition. Verslag Landbouwkundige Onderzoek 66, 1–82.Google Scholar
Donald, C. M. (1958). The interaction of competition for light and for nutrients. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 9, 421–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastin, E. F. (1978). Total nitrogen determination for plant material containing nitrate. Analytical Biochemistry 85, 591–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fiedler, R. & Proksch, G. (1975). The determination of 15N by emission and mass spectrometry in biochemical analysis: a review. Analytica Chimica Ada 78, 1–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, P. J. (1988). Root growth of chickpea, faba beans, lentils, and peas and effects of water and salt stresses. In World Crops: Cool Season Food Legumes (Ed. Summerfield, R. J.), pp. 857–867. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, R. J. (1980). Competitive aspects of the grass–legume association. Advances in Agronomy 33, 227–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, R. A. (1968). Soils of the Reading District. Harpenden: Rothamsted Experimental Station.Google Scholar
Jodha, N. S. (1980). Intercropping in traditional farming systems. Journal of Development Studies 16, 427–442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, M. P. L. D. & Field, R. J. (1984). The nature of competition between perennial ryegrass and white clover. Grass and Forage Science 39, 247–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, M. P. L. D. & Snaydon, R. W. (1982). Root and shoot interactions between barley and field beans when intercropped. Journal of Applied Ecology 19, 263–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ofori, F. & Stern, W. R. (1987). Cereal–legume intercropping systems. Advances in Agronomy 41, 41–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ofori, F., Pate, J. S. & Stern, W. R. (1987). Evaluation of N2-fixation and nitrogen economy of a maize/cowpea intercrop system using 15N dilution methods. Plant and Soil 102, 149–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okigbo, B. N. & Greenland, D. J. (1976). Intercropping systems in tropical Africa. In Multiple Cropping (Eds Papendick, R. J., Sanchez, P. A. & Triplett, G. B.), pp. 63–101. Madison: American Society of Agronomy.Google Scholar
Papastylianou, I. (1988). The 15N methodology in estimating N2 fixation by vetch and pea grown in pure stand or in mixtures with oat. Plant and Soil 107, 183–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patra, D. D., Sachdev, M. S. & Subbiah, B. V. (1986). 15N studies on the transfer of legume-fixed nitrogen to associated cereals in intercropped systems. Biology and Fertility of Soils 2, 165–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinchinat, A. M., Soria, J. & Bazan, R. (1976). Multiple cropping in tropical America. In Multiple Cropping (Eds Papendick, R. I., Sanchez, P. A. & Triplett, G. B.), pp. 51–61. Madison: American Society of Agronomy.Google Scholar
Pyke, K. A. & Hedley, C. L. (1985). Growth and photosynthesis of different pea phenotypes. In The Pea Crop (Eds Hebblethwaite, P. D., Heath, M. C. & Dawkins, T. C. K.), pp. 297–305. London: Butterworth.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rennie, R. J. (1979). Comparison of 15N-aided methods for determining symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Revue d'Ecologie el de Biologie du Sol 16, 455–463.Google Scholar
Ross, M. A. & Harper, J. L. (1972). Occupation of biological space during seedling establishment. Journal of Ecology 60, 77–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Satorre, E. H. & Snaydon, R. W. (1992). A comparison of root and shoot competition between spring cereals and Avena fatua L. Weed Research 32, 45–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schreiber, M. M. (1967). A technique for studying weed competition in forage legume establishment. Weeds 15, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snaydon, R. W. (1991). Replacement or additive designs for competition studies? Journal of Applied Ecology 28, 930–946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snaydon, R. W. & Harris, P. M. (1979). Interactions belowground: the use of water and nutrients. International Intercropping Workshop, pp. 188–201. Hyderabad: ICRISAT.Google Scholar
Snaydon, R. W. & Satorre, E. H. (1989). Bivariate diagrams for plant competition data: modifications and interpretation. Journal of Applied Ecology 26, 1043–1057.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snoad, B. (1985). The need for improved pea-crop plant ideotypes. In The Pea Crop (Eds Hebblethwaite, P. D., Heath, M. C. & Dawkins, T. C. K..), pp. 31–41. London: Butterworth.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tofinga, M. P. (1990). Studies on mixtures of cereals and peas. PhD thesis, University of Reading.Google Scholar
Trenbath, B. R. (1974). Biomass productivity of mixtures. Advances in Agronomy 26, 177–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trenbath, B. R. (1976). Plant interactions in mixed crop communities. In Multiple Cropping (Eds Papendick, R. J., Sanchez, P. A. & Triplett, G. B.), pp. 129–169. Madison: American Society of Agronomy.Google Scholar
Vallis, I. (1978). Nitrogen relationships in grass/legume mixtures. In Plant Relations in Pastures (Ed. Wilson, J. R.), pp. 190–201. Melbourne: CSIRO.Google Scholar
Way, M. J. (1977). Pest and disease status in mixed stands vs. monocultures: the relevance of ecosystem stability. In Origin of Pest, Parasite, Disease and Weed Problems (Eds Cherrett, J. M. & Sagar, G. R.), pp. 127–138. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Willey, R. W. (1979). Intercropping-its importance and research needs. I. Competition and yield advantages. Field Crop Abstracts 32, 1–10.Google Scholar
Willey, R. W. & Osiru, D. S. O. (1972). Studies on mixtures of maize and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) with particular reference to plant population. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 79, 517–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willey, R. W. & Rao, M. R. (1980). A competitive ratio for quantifying competition between intercrops. Experimental Agriculture 16, 117–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. B. (1988). Shoot competition and root competition. Journal of Applied Ecology 25, 279–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witty, J. F. (1983). Estimating N2 fixation in the field using 15N-labelled fertilizer: some problems and solutions. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 15, 631–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar