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.

In order to evaluate yield and yield components in intercropping barley with vetch, a two-year field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Station of Miandoab. The arrangement consisted of 9 mixing treatments with densities of 200 Vetch plant + 300 Barley plant, 200 Vetch plant + 500 Barley plant, 200 Vetch plant + 700 Barley plant, 400 Vetch plant + 300 Barley plant, 400 Vetch plant + 500 Barley plant, 400 Vetch plant + 700 Barley plant, 600 Vetch plant + 300 Barley plant, 600 Vetch plant + 500 Barley and 600 Vetch plant + 700 Barley plant per square meter and sole culture of both crops. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications. The result showed The highest spikes per square meter, thousand kernel weight, biological yield, and grain yield in barley were observed in the sole culture of barley. Also, the highest plant height, number of seeds per plant, thousand kernel weight, biological yield, and grain yield in vetch belonged to the sole culture of vetch. However, the highest Land equivalent ratio (LER) belonged to treatments of 200 Vetch plants + 500 Barley plants by 1.49,

Background and Objective: Since improving the efficiency of environmental resources utilization in intercropping is one of the essential strategies for achieving sustainable agriculture, Therefore, in order to assess some ecophysiological properties of maize S. C 704 in Additive intercropping with mungbean, an experiment was conducted. Materials and Methods: The experiment was based on randomized complete block design with six treatments and four replications in Dezful region during the summer of 2018. Experimental treatments consisted of different Additive intercropping of maize-mungbean intercropping (adding 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of optimum density of mungbean to optimum maize density) and a pure stand of maize (control). Results: The results showed that the effect of different maize-mungbean Additive intercropping treatments on leaf area index, leaf area duration, light absorption, crop growth rate, dry matter accumulation and light use efficiency was significant. But the relative growth rate was not significantly affected by the treatments. In this study, with increasing in mungbean density, the evaluated traits in all intercropping treatments were higher than that of pure maize. However, the Additive intercropping treatment of maize+40% mungbean utilized higher leaf area index (5. 28), leaf area duration (217 LAI-day), absorption of photosynthetically active radiation (18. 12 MJ/m2), Crop growth rate (30. 14 g/m2/day) and relative growth rate (0. 0838 g/g/day) compared to the other treatments, resulting in the highest dry matter accumulation (1996. 50 g/m2) and consequently the highest radiation use efficiency (2. 91 g/mJ). Conclusion: In general, maize+40% mungbean treatment can be introduced as the best maize-mungbean Additive intercropping system, regarding environmental resources consumption and dry matter production.

To evaluate the effect of Additive intercropping grain sorghum and cowpea on weed control in limited irrigation condition, an experiment was conducted in the research farm of college of agriculture, University of Tehran in spring 2006. The experimental treatments were arranged in split plots based on a complete randomized block design with four replications. The limited irrigation (moisture stress) treatment of IR1: normal weekly irrigation (control), IR2: moderate moisture stress during vegetative and generative growth, IR3: moderate moisture stress during vegetative and severe during generative growth, IR4: severe moisture stress during vegetative and moderate during generative growth were allocated to the main plots and different combination of sorghum and cowpea Additive intercropping systems of S1: sole sorghum (with weeding), S2, S3 and S4 an Additive series 15,30 and 45% of the sole seed rate of cowpea mixed with full sorghum seed rate and S5: sole sorghum (without weeding) were allocated to sub plots.  The results of this experiment showed that weed biomass and weed density were significantly less in sorghum-cowpea intercropping treatments compared to sole sorghum (S5). S4 treatment had the lowest number of weeds compared to other treatments. These findings suggest that Additive intercropping sorghum-cowpea suppresses weeds and it is an effective way for biological weed control and acceptable yield of sorghum.

In order to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative traits of safflower and chickpea in Additive and replacement intercropping series, an experiment was conducted as randomized complete blocks design with 11 treatments and 3 replications at research field of Kurdistan University during 2015-2016 growing season. Experimental treatments included sole cropping of safflower, sole cropping of chickpea, replacement series consisted of 4: 4, 2: 2, 1: 1, 3: 1, 1: 3 and Additive series consisted of 20% and 40% chickpea (in two situations: I, between and II, around of safflower rows). Results showed that the highest and lowest seed, biological and oil yields of safflower obtained from 40% I and 4: 4 intercropping patterns, respectively. The highest seed and biological yields of chickpea obtained from its sole cropping, but the minimum number and weight of chickpea root nodules were achieved from this treatment. The highest value of LER obtained from 40% I Additive series. It seems that the mentioned treatment improved yield and quality of safflower; therefore choosing the suitable cropping pattern has positive effect on quantitative and qualitative yield of plants.

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.

To evaluate the response of agronomic characteristics of maize and cowpea to mycorrhiza and mesorrhizobial bacteria in intercropping, this study was carried out at the Research Field of Industrial Shahrood University in 2010 using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments were: Z: maize monocropping, B: bean monocropping, I: intercropping of maize and bean, ZM: maize monocropping + mycorrhizae, BM: bean monocropping + mycorrhizae, BB: bean monocropping + mesorhizobuim bacteria, BMB: bean monocropping + mycorrhizae + mesorhizobium bacteria, IM: intercropping + mycorrhizae, IB: intercropping +mesorhizobium bacteria and IMB: intercropping + mycorrhizal +mesorhizobium bacteria. The results showed that treatment effects on seed yield per plant, leaf chlorophyll content, dry weight of cowpea pods, dry weight of maize ear, number of seeds per ear row, total biological yield in intercropping and partial land equivalent ratio of both cowpea and maize were significant (p<0.01). The highest seed yields per plant for cowpea and maize were 10 and 108 grams in monocropping of cowpea+ mesorhizobuim and monocropping of maize+mycorrhiza treatments respectively. Highest partial LER of maize and cowpea were respectively 1.7 and 1.47 in the intercropping and intercropping+ mycorrhiza fungi and mesorrhizobium bacteria treatments. The results showed that land equivalent ratio was more than one for maize and cowpea. This indicates a positive relations between members of mixed cropping against monocrpping and superiority of intercropping of maize and cowpea as compared to their monocroppings.

IntroductionThe practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously in the same field is called intercropping and it is a common feature in traditional farming of small landholders. It provides farmers with a variety of returns from land and labor, often increases the efficiency with which scarce resources are used, and reduces the failure risk of a single crop that is susceptible to environmental and economic fluctuation. There is another important way that without incurring additional costs and use of water and fertilizer could result in higher production. This approach is increasing agricultural production per unit area by growing more than one crop in a year. intercropping will be successful when competition for sources is less than competition within a species. Plants in the mixture can be chosen in a way that a species benefits from environmental changes caused by other species in mixed cultures directly. intercropping inhibits the growth and development of weeds and leads to increased production. Since the system will reduce pesticide use, environmental pollution will be also less proportionally. The objective of the present study was to study some traits of chickpea (plant height, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight, and plant yield,) under application of nitrogen and planting pattern of chickpea and quinoa. Materials and MethodsIn order to study the effect of nitrogen and intercropping ratios of chickpea and quinoa on some traits of chickpeas, a factorial experiment based on randomized complete Block design (RCBD) was conducted with three replications at Gonbad Kavous University farm during the 2020-2021 growing season. Nitrogen factor was included three levels of non-application and application of 25 and 50 kg N/ha and the treatments of planting pattern were included 9 levels of sole cropping of chickpea, 67 % chickpea + 33 % quinoa, 50% chickpea + 50% quinoa, 33% chickpea + 67% quinoa, 100% chickpea + 33% quinoa, 100% chickpea + 50 % quinoa, 100% chickpea + 67% quinoa, 100% chickpea + 100% quinoa and sole cropping of quinoa. In sole cropping, the distance between the plants on the row for chickpea and quinoa was 10 cm. The operation of harvesting the entire plot was done by removing the border rows and half a meter from both sides of the middle rows. For analysis variance of data software of SAS Ver.9.1.3 was used and treatment mean differences were separated by the least significant difference (LSD) test at the 0.05 probability level. Results and DiscussionThe results of analysis variance showed that planting pattern and nitrogen had a significant effect on plant height, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight, and plant yield chickpea and also plant height, number of seeds per plant, 1000-seed weight, and plant yield quinoa. Plant height in Additive intercropping was more than in replacement intercropping but the number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight, seed weight per plant, and pods weight per plant in replacement treatments and sole cropping of chickpea was more than Additive treatments. Nitrogen application increased all traits. Plant yield of quinoa in replacement intercropping of 33% quinoa instead of chickpea was greater than other treatments. However, the plant yield of chickpea in sole cropping of chickpea and replacement intercropping of 33% quinoa instead of chickpeas with 14.11 and 13.26 respectively, which was greater than other treatments. ConclusionsPlant height in Additive intercropping treatments was more than in replacement intercropping but the number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight, plant yield, and plant dry weight in replacement treatments and sole cropping of chickpea was more than Additive treatments.

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...

In order to achieve sustainable agricultural systems, a field experiment was conducted at chavoshgoli region, 10 Km south-west of khoy city in 2007, as monocropping and intercropping of sunflower and pinto bean in Additive method. The experiment carried out using randomized complete block design with three replications and 10 treatments. The treatments were as follows: Eight treatments of Additive intercropping (with densities of 4 plants/m2 for sunflower and 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 and 32 plants/m2 for pinto bean), one sole cropping of sunflower (4 plants/m2) and one sole cropping of pinto bean (40 plants/m2). For sunflower, the results showed that the effect of intercropping was significant on plant height, diameter of head, number of seed per head and grain yield. The maximum diameter of head, number of seed in head and seed yield per unit were obtained from sole cropping of Sunflower. For pinto bean the maximum plant height, number of leaves and branches per plant, number of pods per plant, grain yield per plant were obtained from S3 treatment (sunflower with density of 4 plants/m2+pinto bean with density of 4 plants/m2) and Maximum grain yield per unit was obtained from sole cropping treatment of pinto bean. The maximum LER (1.353) was obtained for S7 treatment (sunflower with density of 4 plants/m2+pinto bean with density of 20 plants/m2). We can infer that these two crops have used more environmental resources and this treatment (S7) was, therefore recommended at the best intercropping pattern in this experiment.