Scientia Agricultura Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (23): 4648-4659.doi: 10.3864/j.issn.0578-1752.2023.23.007

• TILLAGE & CULTIVATION·PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY·AGRICULTURE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Different Strip Distances on Light Energy Utilization in Strip Intercropping Maize

WU Jing1(), CHEN Meng1, WANG ZhiHua1, YANG JiZhi1, LI YanLi2, WU YuShan1(), YANG WenYu1()   

  1. 1 College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University/Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in Southwest, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/Sichuan Engineering Research Center for Crop Strip Intercropping System, Chengdu 611130
    2 Education Station of Ziyang Agriculture and Rural Bureau, Ziyang 641399, Sichuan
  • Received:2023-04-30 Accepted:2023-07-10 Online:2023-12-04 Published:2023-12-04
  • Contact: WU YuShan, YANG WenYu

Abstract:

【Objective】The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of different strip distances on light energy utilization of maize in maize-soybean strip intercropping, when the single maize plant was grown in the same environment.【Method】This experiment was conducted in 2021-2022 with traditional intercropping (1M1S, 2M1S) and maize-soybean strip intercropping (2M2S, 2M3S, 2M4S) as research objects, five maize strip distance treatments at 1 m (1M1S, 1 row maize﹕1 row soybean), 1.2 m (2M1S, 2 rows maize﹕1 row soybean), 1.6 m (2M2S, 2 rows maize﹕2 rows soybean), 2 m (2M3S, 2 rows maize﹕3 rows soybean), 2.4 m (2M4S, 2 rows maize﹕4 rows soybean) were set, and two monocropping maize treatments were conducted as controls with a row spacing of 80 cm (M80) and 40 cm (M40), respectively. The effect of the difference of light environment on light energy interception and radiation use efficiency (RUE) of maize was analyzed.【Result】Compared to monocropping maize, strip intercropping improved the light transmission at the lower and middle part of the maize canopy, which significantly increased the leaf area and light energy utilization of maize, increased the accumulation of maize dry matter, maintained a higher net photosynthetic rate of maize leaves, and promoted the increase of yield. With the increasing distance between maize strip, the light transmittance in the lower and middle part of maize increased by 30.67%, 20.62%, 10.10% and 112.70%, 96.35% and 79.23% for the 2M2S, 2M3S and 2M4S treatments, respectively. Compared to the monocropping M80 and M40 treatments, 2M4S treatment showed the 44.72% and 53.54% lower light energy interception of maize per unit land area due to the least occupied planting area, respectively, while the RUE of 2M4S treatment was 1.14 times higher than that of M80 and 2.16 times higher than that of M40. The yield of strip intercropping 2M2S, 2M3S and 2M4S treatments increased by 4.97%, 10.47%, 13.43% and 50.05%, 57.08% and 61.31% compared to that of M80 and M40 treatments, respectively.【Conclusion】When the growth environment of each single maize is consistent, the increase of the distance between maize strip improved the light transmission in the lower and middle part of the maize canopy, increased the leaf area of maize, and maintained a higher net photosynthetic rate and photosynthetic product accumulation in the leaves, which leads to the increase of maize RUE. The 2M4S treatment showed the highest light transmission in the lower and middle part of the maize, and the highest net photosynthetic rate and dry matter accumulation in maize, resulting in the highest light energy utilization and yield.

Key words: strip intercropping, maize, strip distance, light energy utilization, yield

Fig. 1

Plan for the field configuration"

Table 1

Field configuration density, row distance and plant distance"

处理
Treatment
密度 Density (plants/667 m2) 行距 Row distance (cm) 株距 Plant distance (cm) 玉米-大豆间距
Maize and soybean distance (cm)
玉米Maize 大豆<BOLD>S</BOLD>oybean 玉米Maize 大豆<BOLD>S</BOLD>oybean 玉米Maize 大豆<BOLD>S</BOLD>oybean
1M1S 6667 13334 40 40 10 10 50
2M1S 8333 8333 40 40 10 10 60
2M2S 6667 13334 40 40 10 10 60
2M3S 5555 16666 40 40 10 10 60
2M4S 4761 19047 40 40 10 10 60
M40 16667 40 10
M80 8333 80 10

Fig. 2

Map of photosynthetically active radiation measurement sites"

Fig. 3

Spatial distribution of photosynthetically active radiation"

Fig. 4

Light transmittance and leaf angle of maize under different strip distances Values within a group followed by different lowercases indicate significantly different at P<0.05 level. The same as below"

Fig. 5

Intercepted PAR fraction of maize per unit area under different strip distances"

Fig. 6

Maize plant height and leaf area under different strip distances"

Fig. 7

Maize net photosynthetic rate under different strip distances"

Fig. 8

Maize dry matter under different strip distances"

Fig. 9

Maize RUE under different strip distances"

Table 2

Maize single yield and components of yield under different strip distances"

年份
Year
处理
Treatment
单株产量
Single yield (g)
穗粒数
Number of spikes
千粒重
1000-grain weight (g)
有效株数
Effective plants
2021 1M1S 106.61±3.16c 369.55±5.57a 284.22±2.10e 5778.07±203.68cd
2M1S 110.82±2.14bc 368.23±7.13a 300.95±0.66cd 7499.70±333.32b
2M2S 112.99±0.61ab 372.98±2.01a 302.96±3.39bc 5689.17±76.98d
2M3S 114.37±0.70ab 374.58±3.25a 306.64±0.70ab 4703.23±61.14de
2M4S 117.56±0.76a 381.57±2.47a 308.11±0.90a 4030.98±109.95e
M40 68.04±0.81d 228.41±2.74b 297.87±0.83d 12778.03±1387.81a
M80 111.70±2.60bc 369.35±8.58a 302.42±0.45bc 7277.49±254.58bc
2022 1M1S 85.91±0.74d 368.14±3.16bc 233.37±0.51bc 4916.91±83.34c
2M1S 93.38±2.72bc 390.71±11.37ab 239.01±3.19b 6527.52±573.68b
2M2S 95.51±2.66b 395.02±10.98ab 241.80±4.53b 4583.56±166.68cd
2M3S 104.09±2.42a 396.59±9.21ab 262.45±7.06a 4166.25±185.87cd
2M4S 106.78±2.88a 399.76±10.79a 267.12±0.09a 3293.03±240.52d
M40 71.26±2.67e 354.61±13.27c 200.96±7.93d 8333.50±1041.69a
M80 87.80±3.00cd 390.74±13.34ab 224.70±4.81c 6978.89±312.49b
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