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Yield advantages and nitrogen utilization characteristics of oat and legume strip intercropping in semi-arid zones

CHEN Min1,2,JIA Rong1,2,ZHANG Jin-Chuan1,2,ZHANG Chen-Yu1,2,CHU Jun-Cong1,2,YAO Wei1,2,GE Jun-Yong3,WANG Xing-Yu3,YANG Ya-Dong1,2,ZENG Zhao-Hai1,2,ZANG Hua-Dong1,2,*   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; 2 Key Laboratory of Farming system, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; 3 Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhangjiakou 075000, Hebei, China
  • Received:2025-04-09 Revised:2025-07-09 Accepted:2025-07-09 Published:2025-07-16
  • Contact: 臧华栋, E-mail: zanghuadong@cau.edu.cn E-mail:18801291815@163.com
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFD1901100) and the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-07-B-5, CARS-07-A-6).

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Abstract:

To investigate the effects of oat/legumes intercropping on crop yield and nitrogen utilization in the semi-arid northern region, a field experiment was conducted in Zhangbei county, Hebei province, in 2019. The study analyzed crop yield, nitrogen use efficiency, soil nutrients, and soil enzyme activities. Five treatments were applied as oat/soybean intercropping, oat/red kidney bean intercropping, oat monoculture, soybean monoculture, and red kidney bean monoculture. Both the land equivalent ratio (LER) and nitrogen yield equivalent ratio (NYER) for oat/soybean and oat/red kidney bean intercropping were greater than 1, primarily due to increased oat yields despite reduced legume yields. Specifically, oat yields in the oat/soybean and oat/red kidney bean intercropping increased by 18.2%–32.9% and 24.8%–44.8% compared to oat monoculture, respectively. The partial factor productivity of nitrogen for oat was 1.08 and 0.77, respectively, indicating that the nitrogen utilization advantage of intercropping was mainly attributable to oat. Furthermore, oat nitrogen uptake increased by 52.4% and 115.8% in the oat/soybean and oat/red kidney bean intercropping, respectively, while total plant nitrogen uptake increased by 40.6% and 112.8% compared to oat monoculture. These results suggest that enhanced nitrogen absorption and utilization is a key factor contributing to the yield advantage of intercropped oat. Further analysis revealed that the oat/red kidney bean intercropping significantly increased soil nitrogen-acquisition enzyme activity by 24.1%–56.5%, thereby promoting nitrogen transformation and utilization, as evidenced by a 19.2% increase in soluble nitrogen content in the rhizosphere soil of intercropped oat. In the oat/soybean intercropping system, biological nitrogen fixation by soybean increased the ammonium nitrogen content in the rhizosphere soil by 31.8%. In conclusion, the oat/legume strip intercropping improves crop yield and nitrogen utilization by either enhancing soil nitrogen-acquisition enzyme activity to accelerate soluble nitrogen release or by increasing ammonium nitrogen availability via biological nitrogen fixation. Promoting this intercropping system in the semi-arid northern region could optimize nitrogen management, enhance system productivity, and support sustainable regional agricultural development.

Key words: semi-arid zone, nitrogen equivalent ratio, oats, soybeans, oats, red kidney beans, soil nutrients

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