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Agronomy
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The Impact of Intercropping on Efficiency of Land and Fertilizer...
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The Impact of Intercropping on Efficiency of Land and Fertilizer Use

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 1752

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Masoud Hashemi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Interests: soil health; cover cropping; sustainable cropping systems; soil–microbe relationship; biomass conversion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Intercropping has been practiced since early in the evolution of agriculture. Intensified monoculture production systems in the last century have compromised the health and productivity of agricultural lands, negatively impacted the environment, increased off-farm resources, and continuously has been threatening the sustainability of agriculture and food security. Adoption of intercropping may result in more efficient use of natural resources, including nutrients and water, reducing pests and pathogen populations, and improving the overall health of the agricultural lands. Competition and complementarity of companion crops in intercropping are the two major factors that are important to the success of intercropping systems. Crops with different morphological and physiological characteristics most likely demonstrate different demands for resources, thus promoting the efficient utilization of limited agricultural resources. Therefore, intercropping has become a hot spot in modern crop production, soil ecology, and environmental research. We especially encourage authors to conduct research on various aspects of intercropping and its impact on natural soil fertility, land use efficiency, interactions of plant-soil–microbe in intercropped systems, and forage quality. We encourage profound research in revealing the underlying mechanism of aerial and belowground parts of the companion crops in the intercropping system.

Prof. Dr. Masoud Hashemi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • intercropping assessment methods
  • fertilizer use efficiency
  • intercropping ratio
  • land-use efficiency
  • crops-soil- microbe interaction
  • forage quality
  • radiation interception

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 5694 KiB  
Article
Dual-Purpose Rye, Wheat, and Triticale Cover Crops Offer Increased Forage Production and Nutrient Management but Demonstrate Nitrogen Immobilization Dynamics
by Samantha Glaze-Corcoran, Alexandra Smychcovich and Masoud Hashemi
Agronomy 2023, 13(6), 1517; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13061517 - 31 May 2023
Viewed by 1404
Abstract
Dual-purpose cover crops (DPCCs) are gaining popularity for their potential to provide additional forage, while also providing significant ecosystem services. In the Northeastern United States, DPCCs can be incorporated into corn silage (Zea mays L.) production, increasing the environmental sustainability and economic [...] Read more.
Dual-purpose cover crops (DPCCs) are gaining popularity for their potential to provide additional forage, while also providing significant ecosystem services. In the Northeastern United States, DPCCs can be incorporated into corn silage (Zea mays L.) production, increasing the environmental sustainability and economic resiliency of dairy systems. In a three-year field study, rye (Secale cereale L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and triticale (xTriticosecale) DPCCs provided an average of 4.1 Mg ha−1 of forage, without impacting subsequent corn silage yield. The relative feed values of triticale and wheat were 120 and 122, respectively, significantly greater than that of rye at 109. DPCCs removed 60 kg ha−1 of nitrogen (N) and 20 kg ha−1 of phosphorus (P) on average at harvest; this removal is important for nutrient management in manured systems with high P levels. The results of this experiment suggested that in addition to capturing nutrients from the fall manure application, DPCCs captured nutrients already present in the soil. The DPCC residue left in the field after harvest represented 46% of the total plant biomass, and returned 1.6 Mg ha−1 of carbon. Decomposition trends of DPCCs demonstrated nitrogen immobilization dynamics. Twenty percent of all the residual nitrogen was released in the first week after termination. The residual biomass continued to decompose, but the nitrogen decomposition was arrested. While, in this study, corn yields were not impeded, our findings demonstrated the potential to affect the fertility needs of corn in a multi-year rotation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Intercropping on Efficiency of Land and Fertilizer Use)
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