Nitrogen uptake and its efficiency in triticale (Triticosecale Witt.) - field beans (Vicia faba var. minor L.) intercrop

Abstract

A field experiment of split-plot design was conducted in 1999 and 2000 on light soil to study the effect of different levels of mineral nitrogen fertilization: 0, 25 and50 kgN/ha on dry matter yield, N uptake and N efficiency indices of spring triticale and field beans grown in pure stands and in intercrop. The intercrop was composed using half of the seeding densities from pure stands. Intercropping increased protein content in grain and plant biomass of triticale irrespective of N input. Increasing N rate from 0 to 25 kg/ha increased plant biomass yield of triticale and intercrop. Nitrogen uptake with grain and biomass of intercrop was significantly higher than by sole crops showing partial complementarity in N use by intercropped species despite strong dominance of triticale over field beans. The higher the N fertilizer rate, the lower was the gain from intercropping mainly due to increased suppression of field beans by triticale. Agronomic efficiency was similar for triticale and intercrop but it was significantly smaller for field beans indicating there were other limited resources hampering growth of the legume.

Keywords

• intercrop
• nitrogen fertilization
• triticale
• field beans