Competitive Indices in cereal and legume mixtures in a South Asian environment

The assessment of competitive performance of mixture components is important for maximizing benefits of intercropping systems. This field study tested binary mixtures of two cereals (sorghum and pearl millet) and three forage legumes (cowpea, cluster bean and soybean), along with their sole crops on competitive indices. Sorghum-cowpea binary mixture resulted in a lower green forage yield of sorghum and cowpea by 9% and 36% respectively, but overall biomass production was increased by 30% and 117% compared to their sole crop equivalents. Partial land equivalent ratios (LER) of all component crops were higher than 0.50, indicating better land use efficiency, except of soybean in binary mixtures with cowpea and cluster bean. However, the highest LER was of sorghum-cowpea (1.55), followed by sorghum-soybean (1.48) and pearl millet-soybean (1.48) binary mixtures. Pearl millet dominated sorghum and all legumes, while cowpea remained a superior competitor among legumes as per aggressivity valu...评估混播组分的竞争表现，对于最大化间作系统的综合效益具有重要意义。本田间试验以两种谷物（高粱（sorghum）与珍珠粟（pearl millet））、三种饲用豆科作物（豇豆（cowpea）、瓜尔豆（cluster bean）与大豆（soybean））的二元混播组合，及其各自单作为研究对象，开展了竞争指数相关测试。其中高粱-豇豆二元混播组合中，高粱与豇豆的青饲料产量分别较单作降低9%与36%，但二者的总生物量产量较各自单作分别提升30%与117%。所有组分作物的部分土地当量比（partial land equivalent ratio, LER）均高于0.50，表明土地利用效率更优，仅与豇豆、瓜尔豆混播的大豆组合除外。不过，LER值最高的组合为高粱-豇豆（1.55），其次为高粱-大豆（1.48）与珍珠粟-大豆（1.48）二元混播组合。珍珠粟相较于高粱与所有豆科作物均占据竞争优势，而根据竞争攻击性估值……