Evaluation of yield indices and LER of different types of bean affected by row intercropping with cucumber

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

• Ghorbanali Asadi
• Surur Khorramdel
• Mohamad Javad Mostafavi
• Mina Hooshmand

Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/ijpr.v11i2.74732

Abstract

Introduction
It has been predicted that the population of the world will reach up to 9 billion people until middle of current century so to meet the demands for food, it is necessary to supply more by developing sustainable agriculture and ecological intensification of food production to avoid disadvantages of conventional agriculture. Intercropping is one of the sustainable agriculture strategies that has been proven that causes more use of available resources by intercropped species. It is one of the key strategies of sustainable agriculture because of its efficiency in using of the resources like nitrogen, light and water and improving vulnerability of crops against diseases and pests. Pulses are very valuable for agroecosystems and human health, because of many advantages like high protein content and nutritional values and symbiotic fixation of nitrogen. So, an experiment was conducted in order to study of yield characteristics of black-eyed pea (BEP), the pinto bean (PB), kidney bean (KB) and green bean (GB) as bean ecotypes affected by intercropping with cucumber and partial land equivalent ratio (LER) of the beans.
 
Materials & Methods
The experiment was held during growing season 2015-16 in the experimental field of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with six and eight treatments (for different studied indices) and three replications. Treatments included sole culture of BEP, PB, KB and GB and their 1:1 ratio in replacement intercropping with cucumber. The plots had five 120-cm sized width and 6×3 meter dimensions. The gaps between the plots and the blocks were one and two meters, respectively. The studied indices included the number of sub-branches per plant, stem length, number and weight of seeds per pod, numbers and weights of pods and seeds per plant, shrub and plant [dry] weights, 100-seed weight, biological and economic yields and harvest index for seeds of grain bean ecotypes (including BEP, PB and KB), and for GB, studied indices included the number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight and economic yield (total weight of harvested green pods per ha). Partial LER of the studied plants was calculated and finally statistical analysis of data and drawing the figures done using SAS v.9.2 and MS Excel 2016 respectively. Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) also used for comparing the means at probability level of %5.
 
Results & Discussion
The results showed that except the number of sub-branches per plant, there were significant differences between the treatments for all other studied indices. The highest stem length was recorded in sole culture of BEP that was significantly different compared with other treatments but there was no significant difference between sole culture and intercropping treatments of PB and KB. Competition for interception of light may cause this result for BEP. Number and weight of seeds per pod and numbers and weights of pods and seeds per plant were higher in intercropping treatments of the plants in comparison of their sole culture. Many other studies like results of Noorbakhsh et al, (2015) and Khalaf (2016) support our findings. 100-seed weight was different between the plants but no significant difference was observed between intercropping and sole culture of each plant. It seems that 100-seed weight is a genetic property that not be affected by intercropping. The biological and economic yield of the bean ecotypes were significantly higher in their sole culture compared with their intercropping due to lower plant density in intercropping but by considering the results of partial LER calculation, it concludes that intercropping was more useful for all studied plants. The highest value of partial LER (0.69) was calculated in GB and the lowest one was recorded to KB. The economic part of GB was its green pods, so its partial LER was higher than another studied plants in comparison of other plants that their seeds form their economic yield. Similar to 100-seed weight, the harvest index was statistically different between the bean ecotypes but it was similar between sole culture and intercropping treatments of each plant because of parallel trends of variations of biological and economic yields of the plants.
 
Conclusion
Based on the results, intercropping of BEP, PB, KB and GB with cucumber is benefit for ecological intensification of production of the studied pulses. So, it can be suggested as an efficient strategy for sustainable development of food production.

Keywords

• Ecological intensification
• Green bean
• Interspecies competition
• Sustainable production
• Synergy

---

References

1. Abou-Hussein, S.D., Salman, S.R., Abdel-Mawgoud, A.M.R., and Ghoname, A.A. 2005. Productivity, quality and profit of sole or intercropped green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) crop. Journal of Agronomy 4(2): 151-155.
2. Altieri, M. A. 2018. Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture. CRC Press.
3. Asadi, G.A., Khorramdel, S., and Hatefi Farajian, M.H. 2016. The effects of row intercropping ratios of chickpea and saffron on their quantitative characteristics and yield. Saffron Agronomy & Technology 4(2): 93-104. (In Persian with English Summary).
4. Asadi, G.A., Khorramdel, S., Shahriari Ahmadi, R., Ranjbar, F., and Aghhavani Shajari, M. 2017. Effect of replacement intercropping ratios of sweet corn with bean varieties on yield and yield components. Iranian Journal of Pulses Researches 2: 192-204. (In Persian with English Summary).
5. Awal, M.A., Koshi, H., and Ikeda, T. 2006. Radiation interception and use by maize/peanut intercrop canopy. Agriculture and Forest Meteorology 139: 74-83.
6. De Souza Pereira, F., Teixeira, I.R., Pelá, A., dos Reis, E.F., da Silva, G.C., Timossi, P.C., and da Silva, A.G. 2015. Agronomic performance of kidney bean and castor bean cultivars in intercropping and monocropping systems under weed competition. Australian Journal of Crop Science 9(7): 614-620.
7. Esfahani, A.R., Amir Shekari, H., Zand, B., and Fotookian, M.H. 2017. Effect of plant density and arrangement on corn (Zea mays L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) row intercropping. Agriculture Researches in Desert Borders 14(1): 13-22. (In Persian with English Summary).
8. Fotoohi Chiyaneh, S., Javanshir, A., Dabbagh Mohammad Nasab, A., Zand, E., Razavi, F., and Rezaee Chiyaneh, E. 2012. The effect of different swing densities of corn (Zea mays L.) and red bean (Phaseoulus vulgaris L.) on the yield of the two crops and biomass on weed. Journal of Agroecology 4(2): 131-143. (In Persian with English Summary).
9. Fujiyushi, P.T. 1998. Mechanisms of weed suppression by squash intercropped in corn. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California Santa Cruz, USA.
10. Ghimire, Y.N., Rana, R.B., Ale, S., Poudel, I., and Tamang, B.B. 2017. Use of agrobiodiversity and crop management practices for climate change adaptation in high hill agriculture of Nepal. Journal of Agriculture and Environment 18: 6-14.
11. Hossein Pour, A., Khalili Mahalleh, J., Zeinalzadeh Tabrizi, H., and Valilue, R. 2016. Evaluation of yield and yield components in intercropping of maize and green bean. Yuzuncu Yıl University Journal of Agricultural Sciences 26(1): 68-78.
12. Kamali, M., and Edalat, M. 2017. The effect of weed interference, sowing date and method on phenology, growth, protein and yield of red bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Journal of Crop Production and Processing 7(3): 47-61. (In Persian with English Summary).
13. Koocheki, A., Nassiri Mahallati, M., Boroomand Rezazadeh, Z., Jahani, M., and Jafari, L. 2014. Evaluation of yield of blackseed (Nigella sativa L.) in intercropping with chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.) and bean (Phaseoulus vulgaris L.). Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research 12(1): 1-8. (In Persian with English Summary).
14. Lak, M., Dorri, H., and Farahani, L. 2013. The effect of weed interference on yield and yield components of bean. Journal of Weed Knowledge 9: 65-78. (In Persian with English Summary).
15. Lamei Harvani, J. 2013. Assessment of dry forage and crude protein yields, competition and advantage indices in mixed cropping of annual forage legume crops and barley in rainfed conditions of Zanjan province in Iran. Seed and Plant Production Journal 29: 169-183. (In Persian with English Summary).
16. Lepse, L., Dane, S., Zeipiņa, S., Domínguez‐Perles, R., and Rosa, E.A. 2017. Evaluation of vegetable–faba bean (Vicia faba L.) intercropping under Latvian agroecological conditions. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 97(13): 4334-4342.
17. Liu, X., Rahman, T., Song, C., Yang, F., Su, B., Cui, L., Bu, W., and Yang, W. 2018. Relationships among light distribution, radiation use efficiency and land equivalent ratio in maize-soybean strip intercropping. Field Crops Research 224: 91-101.
18. Martin-Guay, M.O., Paquette, A., Dupras, J., and Rivest, D. 2018. The new green revolution: sustainable intensification of agriculture by intercropping. Science of the Total Environment 615: 767-772.
19. Moradi, P., Asghari, J., Mohsen Abadi, G.R., and Samiezadeh, H.A. 2016. Effect of sole and intercropping systems on yield and yield component of pinto bean in controlling and no-weeding of weeds. Iranian Journal of Filed Crop Science 47(1): 99-109. (In Persian with English Summary).
20. Moreira, S.L., Pires, C.V., Marcatti, G.E., Santos, R.H., Imbuzeiro, H.M., and Fernandes, R.B. 2018. Intercropping of coffee with the palm tree, macauba, can mitigate climate change effects. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 256: 379-390.
21. Nakhzari Moghaddam, A., Dehghanpoor Incheboroon, O., and Rahemi Karizaki, A. 2016. The effect of nitrogen levels and different ratios of replacement intercropping series on forage yield and competition indices of barley and green pea. Electronical Journal of Crop Production 1: 199-214. (In Persian with English Summary).
22. Nasrollahzadeh Asl, A., Dabbag Mohammadi Nassab, A., Zehtab Salmasi, S., Mogaddam, M., and Javanshir, A. 2012b. Evaluation of potato and pinto bean intercropping. Journal of Crop Ecophysiology 6(2): 111-126. (In Persian with English Summary).
23. Nasrollahzadeh Asl, Chavoshgoli, A., Valizadegan, E., Valiloo, R., and Nasrollahzadeh Asl, V. 2012a. Evaluation of sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) and pinto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) intercropping based on additive method. Agricultural Science and Sustainable Production 22(2): 79-90. (In Persian with English Summary).
24. Piroozi, B., Hosseini, S.M.B., Mazaheri, D., and Heidari, H. 2014. Evaluation of sowing time and intercropping on vegetative and reproductive traits of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and biological yield of forage maize (Zea mays). Agronomy Journal (Pajouhesh and Sazandegi) 104: 62-68. (In Persian with English Summary).
25. Rafe'ee, M.T. 2016. Evaluation of productivity and use effeciency of light, water and nitrogen in row intercropping patterns of corn (Zea mays L.), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Ph.D. Thesis, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. (In Persian with English Summary).
26. Rafiiolhossaini, M., Salehi, F., and Mazhari, M. 2016. The effect of drought stress intensity and stage on agronomic characteristics of two common bean cultivars. Engineering of Desert Ecosystem 11: 45-56. (In Persian with English Summary).
27. The Effect of different patterns of intercropping on yield and yield components of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and lentil (Lens culinaris). MSc. Thesis of Agronomy, Tabriz University. (In Persian with English Summary).
28. Tittonell, P. 2014. Ecological intensification of agriculture-sustainable by nature. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 8: 53-61.
29. Wang, G.Z., Li, H.G., Christie, P., Zhang, F.S., Zhang, J.L., and Bever, J.D. 2017. Plant-soil feedback contributes to intercropping over yielding by reducing the negative effect of take-all on wheat and compensating the growth of faba bean. Plant and Soil 415(1-2): 1-12.
30. Ziyaee, H., Pirdashti, H., Zare, S., and Motaghiyan, A. 2015. Evaluation of seed yield and competitive indices in intercropping of grain corn (Zea mays L.). Journal of Agroecology 7(1): 52-61. (In Persian with English Summary).