THE IMPACT OF SOWING DIRECTIONS ON WHEAT AND COTTON YIELDS IN RELAY STRIP INTERCROPPING

Abstract

The increase in human population, urbanization, and climate change are causing a decrease in agricultural land in our country. The relay strip intercropping method has the potential to reduce competition for cultivation areas between wheat, which is a staple crop, and cotton, which is a cash crop. Therefore, it has a great importance to use this system in the most efficient way in terms of resource utilization, especially sunlight. The research was conducted at the trial fields of the Menemen Research, Application, and Production Farm belonging to the Faculty of Agriculture at Ege University, during the 2017/18 and 2019/20 production seasons. In the study, the effects of different sowing directions (N-S: north-south and E-W: east-west) on wheat and cotton yields in the IWC (relay strip intercropping of wheat and cotton) system were evaluated. According to the results obtained from the trials, although different planting directions had a slight effect on wheat yield parameters, there was no significant impact on plant yield and grain yield. However, rainfall and increasing temperatures during the grain filling period of wheat in the second year led to a significant increase in plant (36%) and grain (39%) yields. Cotton plants were more affected by the difference in planting direction than wheat. The average fiber yield was determined as 658 kg/ha in the E-W direction, while it was about 18% less in the N-S direction (560 kg/ha). Unlike wheat, temperature rises in the second year caused significant losses in cotton yield. The average fiber yield recorded in the first year at 679 kg/ha dropped to about 21% less in the second year (539 kg/ha). Our results indicate that cotton seedlings grown for a certain period under the shade of wheat have exhibited faster development in the E-W compare to N-S direction, where they receive more sunlight, and was able to optimize yield.

Keywords

• Intercropping
• Relay Strip Intercroping System
• Sowing Directions
• Wheat-Cotton Interaction

References

1. Aziz, M., A. Mahmood, M. Asif and A. Ali. 2015. Wheat-based intercropping: a review. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 25: 896-904.
2. Bange, M. 2007. Effects of climate change on cotton growth and development. The Australian Cotton Grower: 40-45. Bibi, A.C., D.M. Oosterhuis and E.G. Gonias. 2008.
3. Photosynthesis, quantum yield of photosystem II and membrane leakage as affected by high temperatures in cotton genotypes. J. Cotton Sci. 12: 150-159.
4. Boretti, A. and L. Rosa. 2019. Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report. npj Clean Water 2: 15. Burke, J.J., J.L. Hatfield and J.R. Mahan. 1988. Crop specific thermal kinetic windows in relation to wheat and cotton biomass production. Agron. J. 80: 553-556.
5. Challinor, A., T. Wheeler, P. Craufurd and J. Slingo. 2005. Simulation of the impact of high temperature stress on annual crop yields. Agric. For. Meteorol. 135: 180-189.
6. Cook, A., N. Wilhelm, W. Shepperd and I. Richter. 2015. Row orientation and weed competition. Eyre Peninsula Farming Systems Summary: 163-165.
7. Dhingra, K.K., M.S. Dhillon, D.S. Grewal and K. Sharma. 1991. Performance of maize and mungbean intercropping in different planting patterns and row orientations. Indian Journal of Agronomy 36: 207-212.
8. Egan, P. and K.P. Ransom. 1996. Intercropping wheat, oats and barley into lucerne in Victoria. 8th Australian Agronomy Conference, Toowoomba, Qld: 231-234.

9. Giayetto, O., G.A. Cerioni and M.S. Amin. 2005. Water use, growth and pod yield of two peanut cultivars under different interrow spacing. J. Peanut Sci. 34(2): 5-13.
10. Hake, S.J. and J. Silvertooth. 1990. High temperature effects on cotton. Cotton Physiology Today, Vol. 1, No. 10.
11. Hall, A.E. 2001. Botany and Plant Sciences Department University of California, Riverside. Heat Stress and Its Impact. https://plantstress.com/heat/. (Date accessed: 05 October 2023)
12. Humphries, A.W., R.A. Latta, G.C. Auricht and W.D. Bellotti. 2004. Over-cropping Lucerne with wheat: effect of Lucerne winter activity on total plant production and water use of the mixture, and wheat yield and quality. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 55: 839-848.
13. Koca Y.O. 2021. Determination of the forage yield and growth parameters of maize (Zea mays L.) with quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) intercropping at different plant mixtures. Turkish Journal of Field Crops, 26(1), 44-53.
14. Krieg, D.R. 1986. Feedback control and stress effects on photosynthesis. Beltwide Cotton Conference Proceedings, Natl. Cotton Counc. Am., Memphis, TN: 227-243.
15. Li, L., J.H. Sun, F.S. Zhang, X.L. Li, S.C. Yang and Z. Rengel. 2001. Wheat/ maize or wheat/soybean strip intercropping I. Yield advantage and interspecific interactions on nutrients. Field Crops Res. 71: 123-137.
16. Li, X., W. Shi, K. Broughton, R. Smith, R. Sharwood, P. Payton, M. Bange and D.T. Tissue. 2020. Impacts of growth temperature, water deficit and heatwaves on carbon assimilation and growth of cotton plants (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Environ. Exp. Bot. 179: 104204.
17. Ludwig, L.J., T. Saeki and L.T. Evans. 1965. Photosynthesis in artificial communities of cotton plants in relation to leaf area. I. Experiments with progressive defoliation of mature plants. Aust. J. Biol. Sci. 18: 1103-1118.
18. Ma, C., P. Xie, K. Zhang, J. Yang, X. Li, F. Liu, L. Lin and H. Zhang. 2021. Contribution of the flag leaf to lead absorption in wheat grain at the grain-filling stage. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Volume 225: 112722.
19. Majeed, S., I.A. Rana, M.S. Mubarik, R.M. Atif, S.H. Yang, G. Chung, Y. Jia, X. Du, L. Hinze and M.T. Azhar. 2021. Heat Stress in Cotton: A Review on Predicted and Unpredicted Growth-Yield Anomalies and Mitigating Breeding Strategies. Agronomy, 11: 1825.
20. Mehraban, A., A. Tobe, A. Gholipouri, E. Amiri, A. Ghafari and M. Rostaii. 2019. The Effects of Drought Stress on Yield, Yield Components, and Yield Stability at Different Growth Stages in Bread Wheat Cultivar (Triticum aestivum L.). Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. 28(2):739-746.
21. Morgan, J.M. 2003. Making the most of available water in wheat production. The State of New South Wales, Edited by Bill Noad, Information Delivery Program, Dubbo, July 2003, Agdex 112/10, Job no. 4287.
22. Pal, R.K., A.K. Singh, P. Raj, P. Kumar, K. Anshuman, A. Kumar and P. Yadav. 2021. Effect of direction of sowing on growth and yield of different wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Pharma Innovation 2021;10(10):917- 920.
23. Patil, H.V., D.B. Deosarkar and S.K. Arbad. 2017. Correlation and path analysis in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). J. Cotton Res. 31: 19-23.
24. Pettigrew, W.T. 2008. The effect of higher temperatures on cotton lint yield production and fiber quality. Crop Sci. 48: 278–285.
25. Queen, A., H. Earl and W. Deen. 2009. Light and moisture competition effects on biomass of red clover under seeded to winter wheat. Agron J. 101: 1511–1521.
26. Reddy, V.R., K.R. Reddy and D.N. Baker. 1991. Temperature Effect on Growth and Development of Cotton During the Fruiting Period. Agron. J. 83: 211-217. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1991.00021962008300010050x
27. Reddy, K.R., V.R. Reddy and H.F. Hodges. 1992. Temperature Effects on Early Season Cotton Growth and Development. Agron. J. 84: 229-237. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1992.00021962008400020021x
28. Reddy, K.R., H.F. Hodges, W.H. McCarty and J.M. McKinion. 1996. Weather and cotton growth. Present and future. In: K.H. Reddy (Ed.), Ag. Communic. Division of Agric., Forest and Vet. Med. Bulletin 1061. Mississippi State, MS: 7-9.
29. Sage, R.F. and D.S. Kubien. 2007. The temperature response of C3 and C4 photosynthesis. Plant, Cell and Environment. 30: 1086-1106.
30. SAS Institute Inc. 2016. JMP® 13 JSL Syntax Reference. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.
31. Snider, J.L., D.M. Oosterhuis, B.W. Skulman and E.M. Kawakami. 2009. Heat stress-induced limitations to reproductive success in Gossypium hirsutum. Physiol. Plant. 137: 125–138.
32. Steel, R.G.D. and J.H. Torrie. 1980. Principles and Procedures of Statistics. McGaw-Hill Book Company, Inc. N.Y.
33. Taiz, L. and E. Zeiger. 2002. Plant Physiology, 3rd Edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Publishers, Sunderland, MA, USA.
34. Tanveer, M., S.A. Anjum and S. Hussain. 2017. Relay cropping as a sustainable approach: problems and opportunities for sustainable crop production. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 24: 6973–6988.
35. Tatar, O., U. Cakalogullari, F. Aykut Tonk, D. Istipliler and R. Karakoc. 2020. Effect of drought stress on yield and quality traits of common wheat during grain filling stage. Turkish Journal of Field Crops 25: 236–244. doi: 10.17557/tjfc.834392
36. Yan, W., M. Du, W. Zhao, F. Li, X. Wang, A.E. Eneji, F. Yang, J. Huang, L. Meng, H. Qi. 2019. Relationships between Plant Architecture Traits and Cotton Yield within the Plant Height Range of 80–120 cm Desired for Mechanical Harvesting in the Yellow River Valley of China. Agronomy 9: 587. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9100587
37. Zhang, F. and L. Li. 2003. Using competitive and facilitative interactions in intercropping systems enhances crop productivity and nutrient use efficiency. Plant and Soil. 248: 305-312.
38. Zhang, L., W. van der Werf, S. Zhang, B. Li and J.H.J. Spiertz. 2007. Growth, yield and quality of wheat and cotton in relay strip intercropping systems. Field Crops Research 103(3): 178-188.
39. Zhang, L., W. van der Werf, S. Zhang, B. Li and J.H.J. Spiertz. 2008b. Temperature-mediated developmental delay may limit yield of cotton in relay intercrops with wheat. Field Crops Research 106: 258–268.
40. Zhang, L., W. van der Werf, L. Bastiaans, S. Zhang, B. Li and J.H. Spiertz. 2008c. Light interception and utilization in relay intercrops of wheat and cotton. Field Crops Research 107: 29- 42.
41. Zhang, X., Q. Rui, Y. Li, Y. Chen, Y. Chen, X. Zhang, D. Chen and M. Song. 2020. Architecture of stem and branch affects yield formation in short season cotton. Journal of Integrative Agriculture. 19: 680–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095- 3119(19)62626-2