In order to investigate the effect of Additive Series Intercropping of legume and cereal (the line of 2561 of broad leaf vetch and Abidar cultivar of barley) on species diversity ecological indices and weeds dominance, a field experiment was conducted in 4 × 5 factorial with three replications in the dry land conditions in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Lorestan in the cropping years of 2015-17. The Intercropping treatments reduced numbers and total dry weight of weeds ratio in sole cropping. The best treatments in first and second year for weeds control were once-weeding and seed ratios 70: 100 and 100: 100 (vetch: barley) and double-weeding×70: 100. The three factor interactions (year, weed and Intercropping) represent the contribution of 40: 100 and 70: 100 with once-weeding in weed dry weight losses (17. 98 and 17. 16 in the first and second years, respectively). In the second year, this interaction also resulted to the lowest weed dry weights (20. 82 and 20 g/m-2). The lowest species richness was belonged to once and double weeding and non-weeding treatments with 100: 100 seed ratio, respectively. Also, mentioned treatments indicated the weeds were more dominance in the first year compared to the second year.

Background and objectives: Medicinal plants play major roles in human health services worldwide. Many people in both developing and developed countries are turning to herbal medicine. There is a growing demand for plant based medicines, health products, essential oils, fragrances, cosmetics and natural aroma chemicals in the national and international markets. The quality of the economic products of medicinal plants is an absolute necessity. Nutrient enrichment of soils by nitrogen fixing symbiotic bacteria present in bean has been known.Materials and methods: In order to study the impact of replacement and Additive Intercropping Series on yield and yield components of bean and ajowan as a medicinal plant, an experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Agricultural Research Station, Shirvan College of Agriculture and Natural Resources during 2012-2013 growing season. Seven replacement and Additive Intercropping Series such as 75% ajowan+ 25% bean, 50% ajowan+ 50% bean, 25% ajowan+ 75% bean, 50% ajowan+ 100% bean, 100% ajowan+ 25% bean, 100% ajowan+ 50% bean, 25% ajowan+ 100% bean and their monocultures were considered as treatment. Criteria such as yield components, biological yield, seed yield, essential oil content, essential oil yield and harvest index of ajowan and yield components, biological yield, seed yield and harvest index of bean were measured and calculated accordingly.Results: The results showed that the effect of replacement and Additive Intercropping Series was significant (p≤0.01) on yield components, biological yield, seed yield, harvest index and essential oil yield of ajowan and yield components, biological yield, seed yield and harvest index of bean. The maximum biological and seed yield of ajowan were observed in its monoculture with 192.82 and 113.19 g m-2 and these minimum were in 50% bean+100% ajowan with 43.50 and 12.79 g m-2, respectively. The highest and the lowest essential oil yield of ajowan were obtained in its monoculture and 100% bean+25% ajowan with 3.51 and 0.54 g m-2, respectively. The maximum number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod were achieved in 75% ajowan+25% bean with 18 branches per plant, 35 pods per plant and 10 seeds per pod, respectively. The highest and the lowest biological yield and seed yield of bean were observed in its monoculture (1984.87 and 893.81 g.m-2) and 25% ajowan+100% bean (552.42 and 252.50 g.m-2), respectively. Range of partial land equivalent ratio (LER) for ajowan was calculated with 0.12-0.55 and it was 0.28-0.83 for bean and the highest total LER was computed in 50% bean+100% ajowan with 1.14.Conclusion: Based on the result Intercropping of ajowan and bean increase biodiversity, sustainability and stability of agroecosystem. It could be effective for ecologic production of medicinal plant. It could decrease chemical input because of nitrogen fixation.

Introduction: Wheat breeders have been constantly striving to develop new varieties with improved productivity and yield as well as higher resistance to pests and diseases. These varieties are being released frequently and replace the existing ones on the basis of their performance under open-field conditions. Intercropping has been widely applied to reduce soil erosion and water loss, to restore ecological balance, to improve radiation and nutrient use efficiency (Awal et al., 2006; Brooker et al., 2015), to raise land equivalent rate and to increase economic benefits (Gliessman, 1995). Therefore, Intercropping is regarded as more productive than monoculture in terms of land use efficiency...

Introduction: Intercropping as a cropping method for sustainable agriculture is simultaneous growing of two or more crops during a given season on same location. Such a method enable to utilize common limiting resources more efficient than the species grown separately. Using two species with different growth habits and the least competitive characteristics in Intercropping, increases the efficiency of resources (light, water and nutrients) absorbtion in comparison with the sole cropping.Pooramir et al. (2010) investigated the effects of planting different ratios of two crops on yield and yield components of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The results of Intercropping of Additive Series showed that the highest grain and biological yield of chickpea were obtained through monoculture and the lowest grain and biological yield of chickpea achieved by planting ratio of 100% sesame and 10% chickpea.Koocheki et al. (2012) studied the Intercropping of borage (Borago officinalis L.) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and reported that the highest economic yield was achieved in monoculture and the lowest economic yield was obtained in four rows of borage plus four rows of bean, but the maximum land equivalent ratio was calculated in 2: 2 Intercropping. The aim of current study was to determine the best combination and efficiency of resource utilization in Intercropping of Additive Series of chickpea and black cumin. It is compared to respective monoculture and the advantage of Intercropping.Materials and methods: A field experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications in West Azerbaijan province- city Nagadeh, Iran in 2012-2013. Treatments included 100% black cumin+10% chickpea, 100% black cumin+20% chickpea, 100% black cumin+30% chickpea, 100% black cumin+40% chickpea and 100% black cumin+50% chickpea and monoculture of chickpea and black cumin. The experimental plot size was 4 m × 3.2 m involving 8 rows with inter–row spacing of 0.4 m. There were 7 and 5 cm distance between chickpea and black cumin seeds sown on rows, respectively. Cow manure (20 t.ha-1) without any chemical fertilizer, were distributed and plowed into the upper 20 cm of the soil before sowing time.Weeds were controlled by hand, several times during growing season. Black cumin was harvested when they turned brown, dried and shelled, and chickpea was harvested when the first pod of the plants was fully matured and dried. The essential oil of black cumin seeds (v/w) was isolated from 30 g of air-dried and powdered seeds with 300 ml distilled water by conventional hydro-distillation for 3 h using a Clevenger-type apparatus (Clevenger, 1928). Grain protein content was also measured using Kejeldahl.Land equivalent ratio (LER): Land equivalent ratio of black cumin and chickpea was calculated using equation 1 (Vandermeer, 1990): “formula” Where Y1 and Y2 represent chickpea and black cumin yield in Intercropping and L1 and I2 represent chickpea and black cumin yield in mono-culture, respectively.Actual yield loss (AYL): The Actual yield loss (AYL) index provides more accurate information about the competition than the other indices. The AYL is calculated according to the following formula (Equations 2, 3 and 4): ”formula”Intercropping advantage (IA):Intercropping advantage (IA) was estimated as IA=AYL × Price of cumin or chickpea. Intercroppingad vantage (IA) of the intercropped components was calculated as (Vandermeer, 1989) (Equation 5): “formula” Where Pa is the price of cumin and Pb is the price of chickpea (Vander meer, 1989).Statistical analyses: SPSS 16 software was used for statistical analysis. To compare the means, Duncan's multiple range test at 5% probability level was used.Results and discussion: Different planting ratios had significant effects on study traits of chickpea and black cumin (except essentialoil yield of black cumin). The highest seed and biological yield of chickpea were achieved through monoculture with 1105 and 14479 kg ha-1, respectively. The results showed that the maximum seed and biological yield of black cumin were obtained at monoculture with 750 and 2310 kg.ha-1, respectively. The highest percentage of grain protein (23%) and essential oil percentage (1.47%) were related to the treatment of 100% black cumin+50% chickpea, respectively. Results showed that LER values were greater than one in all the inter cropping combinations of black cumin and chickpea. Land equivalent ratio (LER=1.74) was recorded considering the treatment of 100% black cumin+10% chickpea, indicating additional 0.79 unit of land would have been needed to get equal yield to planting black cumin and chickpea in monoculture. The highest actual yield loss(AYL=6.45) and Intercropping advantage (IA=1.70) obtained employing 100% black cumin+10% chickpea, respectively. It seems that 100% black cumin+10% chickpea is remarkably effective in increasing the economicincome and land use efficiency.Conclusion: The results showed that yield and yield components of both species were affected by planting ratio. By increasing the planting ratio, yield and LER of both species decreased due to complementary and facilitative effects in Intercropping. Increasing the planting ratio of chickpea, increased the essential oil percentage of black cumin that was probably due to nitrogen concentration. Results of advantages indices showed that Intercropping treatment of 100% black cumin+10% chickpea was suitable for increasing the income of farmers and land use efficiency.

Background and Objectives: Intercropping is a valuable cultivation system in the world due to the better use of resources and increase the quantitative and qualitative yield of plants. It also can be considered as one of the approaches to improve yield and stability in production. Recently, medicinal plants intercropped by legumes have been noticed. In order to evaluate faba bean and fennel Intercropping advantage under row-replacement and Additive Series, an experiment was conducted in 2019. Materials and Methods: This experiment was carried out at the research farm of the Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran, in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Treatments including 6: 0, 4: 2, 3: 3, 2: 4, and 0: 6 of faba bean: fennel rows under replacement Series and 6: 3, 6: 2, 2: 6, and 3: 6 of faba bean: fennel rows under Additive Series. After reaching a constant weight of fennel fruits, yield and its components (number of umbels and umbellets and fruits per umbellet, 1000-seed weight, biological yield, seed yield, and harvest index) were measured in fennel plants. The essential oil content in fennel fruits was also measured using a Clevenger apparatus. Faba bean biomass was measured after harvesting plants in the flowering growth stage. Finally, the relative crowding coefficient, land equivalent ratio, actual yield loss or gain and Intercropping advantage of faba bean: fennel mixed cultivation were calculated in the row-replacement and Additive Series. Results: The results showed that Intercropping of faba bean and fennel had a significant effect on all studied traits. The highest number of umbels per plant was obtained from sole cropping (12. 10). Also, the highest number of umbellets/umbel was related to Intercropping of two rows of faba bean: four rows of fennel and three rows of faba bean: three rows of fennel by 22. 05 and 19. 62, respectively. The highest 1000-seed weight was obtained from sole cropping of fennel (5. 62 g) and replacement Intercropping, especially from two rows of faba bean: four rows of fennel (5. 56 g). The highest biological yield (1503. 47 kg/ha) and seed yield (617. 73 kg/ha) were obtained from the sole cropping of fennel. The maximum harvest index was related to the Intercropping of three rows of faba bean: three rows of fennel, which shows that such a mixture ratio leads to the highest seed yield rather than biological yield produced. The highest fennel essential oil content was obtained from Additive Series. The highest faba bean biomass was found in the sole cropping (1933. 02 kg/ha) and the lowest in treatments in which two rows of faba bean has been planted. Two rows of faba bean + six rows of fennel had the highest (3. 96) relative crowding coefficient. The land equivalent ratio in all row-replacement and Additive Series was more than one or close to one, which indicates the usefulness of faba bean and fennel Intercropping. The highest actual yield (0. 07) and Intercropping advantage indexes (0. 17) were related to three rows of faba bean + three rows of fennel. Also, the lowest actual yield was related to Additive Series, especially treatments in which fennel had a higher mixture ratio than faba bean. Conclusion: Based on the results obtained in this study, environmental resources including light, water, and nutrients have been used optimally in the three faba bean rows + three fennel rows and there was no effective competition to achieve them in this row-replacement Series. In other words, ecological niche separation in this Intercropping system has been done favorably, and subsequently the actual yield index increased. Therefore, the mixture ratio by 50: 50 in the row-replacement Series is recommended to achieve the highest benefit in semi-arid conditions where this experiment was conducted.

In order to evaluate the effect of different planting ratios on yield and yield components of sesame and chickpea in Intercropping, an experiment was conducted in Research Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2007. The treatments were arranged in split plots based on randomized complete block design with three replications, consisting of two planting methods namely row planting and mixed planting as main plot and five planting ratios including chickpea monoculture, sesame monoculture, 10% chickpea+100% sesame, 20% chickpea+100% sesame, 30% chickpea+100% sesame as sub plot. The results showed that the highest sesame yield of 1.8 t/ha was obtained in 20% chickpea+100% sesame Intercropping at row planting pattern and the lowest yield of 0.74 ton/ha was obtained from 10% chickpea+100% sesame ratio with mixed planting. Land equivalent ratio (RYT) showed that with 20% chickpea+100% sesame, 30% chickpea+100% sesame and 10% chickpea+100% sesame ratio the yield was respectively 39% (RYT=1.39), 28% (RYT=1.28) and 24% (RYT=1.24) more than monoculture. This could be attributed to better utilization of environmental resourses by these combinations of the crops.

Introduction Weeds are main factors reducing crops yield, especially under organic farming conditions (). It has been reported that weed populations are more in organic farming compared to conventional cropping systems, resulting in more reduction of growth and yield. Although the chemical control is a fast and effective way for controlling weed populations, some negative impacts of the recent weed management on public health and the natural environment, increased the concerns of using weed chemical compositions. Thus, non-chemical weed control is in high importance. Intercropping, an agronomical operation in which two or more crops are grown simultaneously in the same field, is one of the most important methods for increasing biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems (Amosse et al., 2013; Rostami et al., 2009; Yuan-Quan et al., 2012). Therefore, the current research was aimed to evaluate the possible non chemical controlling of weeds in a maize-cowpea Intercropping system.Materials and methods A field experiment was conducted in the north of Khuzestan during the growing season 2013-2014. The experiment was based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Maize and cowpea were planted in two sole crop systems and four Intercropping systems based on an Additive Series, including T1: 100 percent maize+25 percent cowpea, T2: 100 percent maize+50 percent cowpea, T3: 100 percent maize+75 percent cowpea and T4: 100 percent maize+100 percent cowpea. No chemical materials (fertilizer and pesticide) were used during growing season. Environmental usage by Intercropping patterns was evaluated by measuring photosynthetically active radiations (PAR) (mean of five points in each plot, selected randomly) and soil moisture content at three stages. At harvest time, all plants of each plot were harvested and grouped and weighed according to their species type. Complementary effect of Intercropping in using environmental resources was calculated using relative yield total (RYT) index. Weed smothering efficiency (WSE) was used to evaluate the effect of Intercropping on reducing weeds the dry weight.Results and discussion Results indicated that soil moisture content, PAR interception and soil temperature were affected by cropping patterns. The lowest and highest values of soil temperatures were observed in Intercropping and sole crop systems, respectively. Intercropping systems exploited soil water more than sole crops. PAR interception was higher in Intercropping compared to sole cropping. However, sole cowpea showed lower PAR interception compared to maize sole crop. Relative yield total (RYT) index was more than unity in all Intercropping systems.Weed smothering efficiency (WSE) showed that dry weight of weeds was reduced by 21-26 and 28-42 percentages in Intercropping systems compared to sole maize and sole cowpea cropping systems, respectively.The growth of weeds (in terms of total dry weight) in Intercropping systems were reduced in which from five recorded weed species, the dry weight of them, including amaranth (Amaranthus retondus L.), pigweed (Echinocloa cruss-gali L.), purslane (Portulaca oleraceae L.) and Halikakabon (Solanum nigrum L.) decreased in Intercropping compared to sole cropping systems. Intercropping components showed a complementary relation in consuming environmental resources including soil moisture and PAR. Since the soil temperature was lower in Intercropping compared to sole cropping, lower soil moisture in Intercropping cannot be resulted from higher evaporation in Intercropping, but also the widespread root system in Intercropping resulted in higher efficiency in soil moisture consuming. Relative yield total more than unity, showing the advantages ofIntercropping in environmental resources consumption. Soil covering and higher biodiversity are two main factors reducing weeds growth in Intercropping because the two recent factors lower PAR availability for weeds which can reduce weed. The current research, taller maize absorbed incoming PAR and shorter cowpea intercepted PAR at ground surface, resulting in lower PAR for weeds. Higher plant populations in Intercropping have been reported as a main factor for reducing environmental resources availability for weeds reducing their growth.Conclusion The Relative yield total was more than unity, indicating the complementarity of maize and cowpea in Intercropping systems for environmental resources consumption which was resulted in lower weeds growth.Thus, Intercropping can be used as a non-chemical method for weeds control.

In order to evaluate the effect of Intercropping with replacement and Additive Series for hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), a field experiment was conducted during growing season 2006-07 at the Agricultural Research Station of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used. Treatments included different combinations of Intercropping with replacement (75% sesame+25% hemp, 25% sesame+75% hemp, 50% sesame+50% hemp) and Additive (50% sesame+100% hemp and 100% sesame+50% hemp) Series and their monoculture. Results indicated that the highest and the lowest leaf area index (LAI) and dry matter (DM) accumulation of hemp were observed in 50% sesame+50% hemp (2.99 and 1921.7 gm-2) and 50% sesame+100% hemp (1.06 and 929 gm-2), respectively. The highest and the lowest LAI and DM accumulation of sesame were observed in monoculture (1.34 and 551.27 gm-2) and 50%sesame+100% hemp (0.23 and 51.73 g.m-2), respectively. The maximum crop growth rate (CGR) of hemp and sesame were observed in 50% sesame+50% hemp (76.58 gm-2day-1) and monoculture (22.78 gm-2day-1), respectively. It seems that the intercropped sesame with hemp reduced the growth indices of sesame due to increasing shading on it and decreasing the absorption of radiation.

Compensating water shortage requires the use of proper agricultural management methods. Thus, the present experiment aims at investigating different irrigation levels based on water requirement of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. ) on qualitative and quantitative yield of forage produced by combined cropping patterns of sorghum and snail medic (Medicago scutellata L. ). The experiment is conducted in split plots design based on randomized complete blocks with three replications in two years (2017-2018 and 2018-2019). The treatments include irrigation levels of 50%, 75%, 100%, and 125% (as the main plot) and cropping patterns sole-cropping sorghum, sole-cropping snail medic, cropping pattern of 100% sorghum with Additive Series of 50%, 75%, and 100% snail medic (as the subplot). Results show that the highest fresh and dry forage yield are obtained in 125% water requirement as well as 100% sorghum and 100% snail medic (with 53578. 45 and 13302. 68 kg ha-1). In addition to the effective application of land (land equivalent ratio = 1. 29), fresh and dry forage yield have increased by 834 and 63. 36 kg ha-1, respectively. The analysis of forage quality show that with a decrease in the portion of the snail medic, the percentage of protein has decreased by 11. 05%. Also, the highest percentage of crude ash and digestible matter have been obtained in the treatment of sorghum sole cropping (11. 79% and 81. 04%, respectively) and the highest percentage of acid detergent fiber in the treatment of snail medic sole cropping (30. 94%). According to the results, it is possible that the use of crop with low water requirements like snail medic in mix cropping system (100: 100) increases the quality and quantity of forage, boosting water productivity as well.

Introduction: In the modernization of crop production, most methods used by growers to achieve better yields have largely been explored. Most of these methods involve increasing the efficiency of the utilization of natural resources. A rise in radiation use efficiency is one of the major criteria for obtaining a yield advantage. Plant dry matter accumulation has a linear relationship with accumulative Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR). Intercropping could be a strategy for increasing light absorption in agronomic systems and may improve radiation use efficiency (RUE): The additional solar energy used by the intercrop canopy leads to improved crop production and, thus, greater economic yield. Over the past three decades, there has been much study on the uses of radiation in Intercropping and alley cropping systems for a wide range of crop combinations (Zhang et al., 2008; Sinclair and Muchow, 1999). However, the association of sesame and chickpea had not been analysed until now.Materials and methods: This study was conducted in order to evaluate radiation absorption and use efficiency in replacement Series Intercropping of chickpea and sesame. The treatments were arranged in split plots based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments consisted of two planting methods, namely row planting and mixed planting (as main plot) and five planting ratios including chickpea monoculture, sesame monoculture, 10% chickpea+100% sesame, 20% chickpea+100% sesame, 30% chickpea+100% sesame as sub plot.Results and discussion: Results showed that sesame RUE was higher than chickpea RUE in all the treatments. The amount of sesame RUE varied from 1.49 to 1.76 g MJ-1 PAR and from 1 to 1.27 g MJ-1 PAR in row planting and mixed planting, respectively. The amount of chickpea RUE, also varied from 1.02 to 1.1 g MJ-1 PAR and from 0.71 to 0.94 g MJ-1 PAR in row planting and mixed planting, respectively. The results also showed that sesame RUE in Intercropping treatments was higher than in monocropping treatments, but chickpea RUE in Intercropping treatments was higher than in simply monocropping in row planting. In general, the amount of RUE of both crops in row planting was higher than in mixed planting, either in Intercropping or monocropping treatments. Based on these results the best recommendable treatment for Intercropping is 100% sesame+30% chickpea based on row planting. The chickpea RUE for treatment of 100% sesame+30% chickpea based on row planting was the highest level (1.1 g MJ-1) among the other treatments and the sesame RUE of this treatment was higher than the sesame monocrop RUE (1.7 g MJ-1 vs. 1.49 g MJ-1 in monocrop). The main findings in this study were as follows: Firstly, the intercrop intercepted more PAR than sesame and chickpea alone. Secondly, sesame/chickpea Intercropping utilized radiant energy more efficiency than the monocrop, and sesame alone had greater RUE than chickpea alone. The higher ratio of diffuse to direct radiation surrounding the intercrop peanut would help to improve its e value (Sinclair et al., 1999). The shading effect offered by the taller plant might be partially offset by its higher photosynthetic rates per unit PAR at low intensity (Sinclair et al., 1989, Tsubo et al., 2001(.Conclusion: The results showed that chickpea plants can tolerate the shade produced by sesame plants when grown as a row intercrop but not under mixed intercrop. The higher yields obtained in Intercropping systems are probably due to greater radiation-use efficiencies. Chickpea RUE decreased under mixed cropping, for the reason that raised sesame produced shading on chickpea.