The effect of site on competition and yield advantages of mixtures of barley and oats

Abstract

Competition between six-row barley cv. Agneta and oats cv. Veli, and yield advantages of the mixtures were evaluated in a replacement series field experiment. The experiment was situated in a sloping area. Although barley was lower yielding (grain yield) than oats when the components were grown in monoculture, barley was dominant in all mixtures irrespective of the site. The competitive ability of barley decreased from the less productive site (top) to the more productive site (bottom). The improved competitive ability of oats was likely due to the faster early growth of oats. The grain yield of the mixture was about 4°70 (p >0.05) greater than the yield of the highest yielding component (oats) grown in monoculture on the more productive sites. The grain yield of the mixture was greater than the average yield of the pure stands and also the relative yield total exceeded one irrespective of the site. The grain weight of the species was independent of the genotypic structure of the stands. The protein content of oats was the highest, being greater in mixtures than in monocultures. The protein yield and the protein content of the mixture was between the values for pure stands.