Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal: Field Crops Research

Volume number: 265

ISSN: 0378-4290

eISSN: 1872-6852

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2021.108120

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
Mixed cropping may lead to complementary utilization of resources, but the plant-plant interactions are very complex and also dependent on agronomic practices, such as phosphorus (P) supply. In order to evaluate to what extent mixed cropping with legumes benefits plant P nutrition in dependence of P availability, experiments are required with a wide range of P supply. The objective of this study was to assess the P nutrition of sole cropped cereals and cereal-legume mixtures as affected by inorganic and organic P fertilizers in single and combined applications. Maize (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in sole cropping and combined with runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) and lupine (Lupinus angustifolius, Lupinus mutabilis) were cultivated in three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015 on plots of a long-term field experiment established in 1998 with nine P fertilizer treatments. Crop biomass yields and nutrient uptakes were analyzed as well as chemical and biological soil properties. On average over the three experimental years and all fertilizer treatments the highest yields were measured for maize in sole cropping (14.9 Mg ha(-1)) followed by maize + bean (13.8 Mg ha(-1)), sorghum (10.9 Mg ha(-1)), and sorghum + lupine (9.75 Mg ha(-1))(p < 0.001). Advantages of mixed cropping were preferentially found under P deficiency in the treatment without P supply. Here the yields and P uptakes of the mixtures were comparable or even higher than maize or sorghum cultivated alone. The contribution of legume biomass to the total biomass of the mixtures was generally less than 10 %. Lowest activities of enzymes in the soil were found for maize. When maize was combined with bean the activities of acid phosphatase as well as the microbial activity in soil (measured as activity of dehydrogenase) increased, which may result in an increased P utilization of organic P compounds in soil. The results of this study showed, that the performance of cereal-legumes mixtures can be independent of external P supply and that they are an asset mainly under suboptimal conditions of P shortage.

Harvard Citation style: Eichler-Loebermann, B., Zicker, T., Kavka, M., Busch, S., Brandt, C., Stahn, P., et al. (2021) Mixed cropping of maize or sorghum with legumes as affected by long-term phosphorus management, Field Crops Research, 265, Article 108120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2021.108120

APA Citation style: Eichler-Loebermann, B., Zicker, T., Kavka, M., Busch, S., Brandt, C., Stahn, P., & Miegel, K. (2021). Mixed cropping of maize or sorghum with legumes as affected by long-term phosphorus management. Field Crops Research. 265, Article 108120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2021.108120