A presentation at the WCCA 2011 event in Brisbane.

1. Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
Intercropping maize and mungbean
to intensify summer cropping
systems in Queensland, Australia
Joseph Eyre
Richard Routley
Daniel Rodriguez
John Dimes

2. Project background
SIMLESA aims at increasing farm-household food security and
productivity, in the context of climate risk and change, through the
development of more resilient, profitable and sustainable maize-
legume farming systems
Socio-economic More productive, Improved range of
characterization resilient and maize and legume
sustainable varieties available
Input and output smallholder for smallholders
value chain maize-legume
practices, tactics
Whole farm and strategies
resource
allocations
Scaling out and capacity building
30% increase in maize yields and 30% reduction
in risk 500,000 households over the next 10 years
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 2

3. Project background
Similar agro-ecologies
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 3

4. Objective:
The sustainable intensification of
cropping with an emphasis on maize
and legumes
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 4

5. How intensify?
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 5

6. Intensifying resource use
Double cropping
Maize
Legume
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 6

7. Intensifying resource use
Intercropping
Maize
Legume
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 7

8. Intensifying resource use
Relay cropping
Maize
Legume
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 8

9. Intercropping 2010-2011
• 2 by 2 row replacement
intercropping
– Suitable for mechanisation
– No opportunity for relay
• Maize-mungbean
– Opportunities to increase maize
production in Qld
• Light competition managed with
multiple maize population
densities
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 9

10. Materials & Methods
• cv. Emerald and cv. 34N43 (CRM 110) sown 1/2/2011 at Gatton RS
• 0.75 m rows in Nth-Sth orientation
• Nitrogen (150 Kg/Ha N) and rain fed (water unlimited)
• 2, 2 row replacement intercropping with consistent intra row plant
spacing
– Sole Mungbean (Mb) 20 pl/m2
– Sole Maize (Mz) 2 pl/m2
– Sole Mz 4 pl/m2
– Sole Mz 8 pl/m2
– Intercropped Mb 10 pl/m2 Mz 1 pl/m2
– Intercropped Mb 10 pl/m2 Mz 2 pl/m2
– Intercropped Mb 10 pl/m2 Mz 4 pl/m2
• Soil water and light interception monitored intensively
• 4 replicates (blocks)
• 4.5 m2 harvest area
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 10

11. Preliminary results
• Maize population density
– Yield plateau 4-8 plants/m2 monoculture
– No plateau for intercropped maize?
7
6 l.s.d. (p=0.05)
5
Yield (t/Ha)
4
Sole maize
Intercropped maize
3
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Population density (plants/m2)
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 11

12. Preliminary results
• Maize intra-specific competition; Land use Equivalence Ratio (LER)
– Intercropped maize more land efficient (Partial LER>0.5)
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
IC 16.5 cm intra row (t/ha)
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Sole 16.5 cm intra row (t/ha) = Partial LER
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 12

13. Preliminary results
• Maize intra-specific competition
– Intercropped maize more land efficient (Partial LER>0.5)
– Maize is more susceptible to intra-specific competition
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 13

14. Preliminary results
• Maize yields; intercropped vs. sole
– Intercropped maize more land efficient (partial LER>0.5)
– Maize is more susceptible to intraspecific competition
– Intercropping can’t compensate for reduced land area
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
≠
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 14

15. Preliminary results
• Maize yields; intercropped vs. sole
– Intercropped maize more land efficient (partial LER>0.5)
– Maize is more susceptible to intraspecific competition
– Intercropping can’t compensate for reduced land area
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole 7.35a
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole 6.85a
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole 4.80b
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 5.14b ≠ 0.70a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 3. 92c 0.58b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 2.62d 0.55b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.63 0.04
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 15

16. Preliminary results
• Mungbean yields; intercropped vs. sole
– High sole crop yield
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole 2.40a
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.73d
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.89c
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 1.07b
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.59
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 16

17. Preliminary results
• Mungbean yields; intercropped vs. sole
– High sole crop yield
– Intercropping reduced mungbean yield partly due to population
decreases
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole 2.40a 12ab
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.73d 8c
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.89c 10bc
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 1.07b 13a
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.59 3
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 17

18. Preliminary results
• Mungbean competition; intercropped vs. sole
– High sole crop yield
– Intercropping reduced mungbean yield partly due to population
decreases
– Susceptible to interspecific competition (Partial LER<0.5)
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.30c
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.37b
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.45a
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.02
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 18

19. Preliminary results
• Total LER; intercropped vs. sole
– No effect of maize population
– Similar land area could produce both crops in monoculture
Treatment Yield (t/ha) Yield (g/plant) Partial LER Total
Mz Mb Total Mz Mb Mz Mb LER
Mb 20 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 8 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 2 pl/m2 Sole
Mz 4 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.70a 0.30c 1.00a
Mz 2 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.58b 0.37b 0.95a
Mz 1 & Mb 10 pl/m2 IC 0.55b 0.45a 0.99a
l.s.d. (P = 0.05) 0.04 0.02 n.s.
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 19

20. Conclusions
• Intercropped maize is more land efficient than sole maize, but can’t
completely compensate for decreased area
• Mungbean is susceptible to competition from maize
Future research
• Investigate novel temporal (i.e. relay cropping) and spatial arrangements to
manage intra- & inter-specific competition
• Famer interest in wheat-mungbean, millet-mungbean, & sorghum-chickpea
relay
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 20

21. Acknowledgements
DEEDI QAAFI
James McLean Daniel Rodriguez
Richard Routley
John Dimes
Solomon Fekybelu
Aldo Zeppa
Scott Geddes
© The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2011 21