Intercropping legumes and cereals increases phosphorus use efficiency; a meta-analysis
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Intercropping legumes and cereals increases phosphorus use efficiency; a meta-analysis Xiaoyan Tang & Chaochun Zhang & Yang Yu & Jianbo Shen & Wopke van der Werf & Fusuo Zhang
Received: 6 December 2019 / Accepted: 9 November 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Aims Intercropping cereals with legumes may achieve high crop yields at reduced input levels. Several studies have indicated that intercropping increases phosphorus use efficiency but no overarching analysis exists on the role of species traits and input levels. Here we synthesize the available information on P use efficiency in cereal/legume intercropping. Methods Global data on yields, P uptake and nutrient input in cereal/legume mixtures were extracted from the literature and statistically analyzed. Co-variables explaining P uptake efficiency and yield were considered. Results P uptake was substantially increased with an average value of LERP, the land equivalent ratio for P uptake, of 1.24, and an average NEP (observed P uptake minus expected P uptake) of 3.67 kg P ha−1. The con-
version efficiency of P uptake to biomass decreased with P uptake and was lower in intercrops than in sole crops but the conversion efficiency to yield was not affected by intercropping. The P fertilizer requirement was 21% lower in intercrops than in sole crops for the same yields. Conclusions Substantial improvements in land use efficiency and P uptake are obtained by cereal/legume intercropping. Cereal/legume intercropping has therefore potential to increase P fertilizer use efficiency in agriculture. Keywords Cereal/legume intercrops . Meta-analysis . P uptake . P conversion efficiency . P fertilizer equivalent ratio
Introduction Responsible Editor: Hans Lambers. X. Tang : C. Zhang : J. Shen : F. Zhang (*) College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, People’s Republic of China e-mail: [email protected] X. Tang College of Resources, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, People’s Republic of China Y. Yu : W. van der Werf (*) Crop Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected]
Intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crop species simultaneously in the same field during a significant part of their growing periods (Willey 1979; Ofori and Stern 1987; Hauggaard-Nielsen and Jensen 2005). Intercropping has been used for millennia by smallholder farmers in Asia, Africa and Latin American and is currently attracting attention because of its ability to produce high yields at lower inputs (e.g. nitrogen fertilizer) and its potential for land sparing (Yu et al. 2015; Martin-Guay et al. 2018; Li et al. 2020a, b). Furthermore, intercropping suppresses pests and diseases (Trenbath 1993; Boudreau 2013; Zhang et al. 2019) and it can increase soil organic matter and
Plant Soil
retention of N in agricu
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