Maize–soybean intensification alternatives for the Pampas

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2014.03.012

Field Crops Research

Volume 162, June 2014, Pages 48-59

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2014.03.012 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Double crops, relay crops and intercrops of maize and soybean were evaluated under irrigated and rainfed conditions covering broad ranges of seasonal rainfall and radiation receipt.
•
The intensification alternatives were more productive than the sole crops in 75% of the cases.
•
Maize and soybean grain yields were uncorrelated for intensification alternatives under rainfed conditions, a promising option for cropping system diversification.
•
The gross margins of intensification alternatives were similar to the soybean sole crop and were related to the ratio between soybean and maize prices.

Abstract

Cultivating multiple crops as a land use alternative could increase system productivity and sustainability, providing options to soybean monoculture for the Argentinean Pampas. This study evaluates the performance of maize–soybean in double crop, relay crop and intercrop across a wide range of water supply and length of growing season in the Pampas. It also assesses the effect of maize cycle length and maize and soybean prices on these intensification alternatives. A total of 16 experiments, 6 rainfed and 10 irrigated, were conducted at four INTA Research Stations during five growing seasons. Yield ranged from 4390 to 16,862 kg ha⁻¹, for sole maize crops, and from 1884 to 5130 kg ha⁻¹, for sole soybean crops. The intensification alternatives productivity, measured as the land equivalent ratio (LER), was associated to the length of the growing season and was higher than 1.00 in 100%, 86% and 61% of the cases for maize–soybean double crop, relay crop and intercrop, respectively. Maize grain yield in double crop was similar to that of sole maize crop, whereas soybean yield in double crop was reduced compared to that of sole soybean crop due to sowing date delay. Maize and soybean grain yields under relay crop and intercrop were lower than their respective sole crops. The intercrop increased soybean yield and decreased maize yield compared with relay crop. Yield of soybean in intercrop and relay crop increased when sown with short cycle length maize hybrids. Maize and soybean sole crop yields were positively correlated (P < 0.01, r = 0.82). However, a negative correlation was found between maize and soybean yields for intensification alternatives under irrigated conditions (P < 0.01, r = −0.68), but not under rainfed conditions. The intercropping alternatives under rainfed conditions could reduce farm risk, due to the similar economic results with soybean sole crop, and the lack of correlation between soybean and maize yields.

Introduction

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merill) is the main rainfed crop of Argentina (Calviño and Monzon, 2009). The area cropped with soybean increased from 1.9 to 19.7 million hectares in the period 1980/1981–2012/2013 (Integrated Agricultural Information System, http://www.siia.gov.ar) representing around 70% of the cultivated area in the last three seasons. The trend to soybean monoculture is becoming a risk to system sustainability, with an increasing concern for soil deterioration and economic dependence (Viglizzo et al., 2011, Volante et al., 2012). Conversely, global agricultural production must increase up to 70% to keep pace with global food demand driven by population and income growth (Bruinsma, 2009, Van Ittersum et al., 2013). This agricultural challenge needs to take into account environmental concerns, i.e. increase grain production while maintaining farm sustainability (Bruinsma, 2009).

There are different strategies to increase grain production in the current cropping area. In locations with long growing seasons a clear and feasible way is to use cultivars with a longer than actually used crop cycle length (Capristo et al., 2007). But this does not necessarily means an increased grain yield, because the extra resources available in long growing seasons are not always converted into grain yield (Egli, 2011). Another option to intensify the use of agricultural land consists of sowing two or more crops per season as double crops, relay crops or intercrops (Caviglia et al., 2004, Neto et al., 2010, Coll et al., 2012). In Argentina, the double crop of soybean after the harvest of a winter cereal is a common practice (Caviglia et al., 2004). For summer species, one option is the double crop, that consists of maize (Zea mays) or sunflower (Helianthus annuus) followed after harvest by soybean as a second crop. However, the limited length of the growing season restricts this option for most cropping regions of Argentina (Hall et al., 1992).

An alternative to double crop of summer species consists in maize or sunflower intercropped 40–60 days after sowing, with soybean reducing the growing season length requirement (relay crop, Echarte et al., 2011, Andrade et al., 2012, Coll et al., 2012). The use of maize in these systems ensures a high biomass production, which contributes to maintaining the soil carbon balance (Oelbermann and Echarte, 2011).

In any intensification alternative that involves two or more crops, the reduced yield of individual crop components can be counterbalanced by an increase in total grain yield on an annual basis (Evans, 1993). Intercropping usually reduces the yield of soybean (suppressed crop) more than the yield of maize (dominant crop). Coll et al. (2012) suggested that management practices oriented to increase soybean competitive ability would result in a proportionally greater yield increase for soybean than a yield reduction for maize with an overall improvement in relay crop performance. There are several options to reduce severity of maize competition in order to improve productivity. For instance, reducing plant density in maize has resulted in a 5% increase of productivity in a maize–soybean relay crop (Echarte et al., 2011). Other promising options to increase productivity in maize–soybean intensification alternatives are (i) soybean sowing date adjustment and (ii) the use of short cycle length maize hybrids. In both options, the goal is to separate the critical periods for grain yield determination of both components in order to reduce interspecific competition and maximize productivity.

Climatic conditions, which vary widely across the Pampas of Argentina, are a key factor for the success of maize–soybean intensification alternatives. The frost free period increases mainly from south to north, and also from west to east, with temperature following a similar pattern. Rainfall increases in a northeast direction, and rainfall pattern is monsoonal in the west and becomes more isohydrous toward the east of the region (Hall et al., 1992, Calviño and Monzon, 2009). Accordingly, the feasibility of summer intensification alternatives could be regionally conditioned by climatic conditions.

The objectives of this work were to study the effect of soybean sowing date and maize hybrids of different cycle length on grain yield productivity of maize–soybean intensification alternatives for different environments across a wide range of water supply and length of growing season in the Pampas of Argentina.

Section snippets

Experimental locations

A total of 16 experiments were conducted in Argentina at the INTA (National Institute of Agricultural Technology) research stations of Balcarce (−37.7°, −58.2°, 130 m above mean sea level, m), Pergamino (−33.9°, −60.6°, 56 m), Manfredi (−31.8°, −63.8°, 360 m) and Paraná (−31.5°, −60.3°, 77 m) during five growing seasons, from 2004/2005 to 2008/2009 (Fig. 1, Table 1). Soils were a loam Petrocalcic Argiudol (USDA Soil Taxonomy) constrained by a hardened layer of calcium carbonate at 0.7–1.6 m depth at

Meteorological conditions

Experimental locations are shown in Fig. 1. Long term (1971–2008) average annual rainfall for Balcarce, Pergamino, Manfredi and Paraná was 929, 1022, 783 and 1104 mm, respectively (data not shown). From October 1st to May 1st (1971–2008) average rainfall was 661, 879, 699 and 879 mm respectively. Rainfall during the experimental period was below average for most of the locations and years ranging from 394 to 1056 mm in the experiment under rainfed conditions (Table 1). Growing degree days from

Discussion

The maize–soybean intensification alternatives here evaluated showed a LER greater than 1 in 75% of the cases that included different water regimes and agronomical managements (Fig. 2a). Many authors have showed similar results for this combination of species and others in many regions around the globe (Fischer, 1977, Kandel et al., 1997, Caviglia et al., 2004, Tsubo et al., 2005, Ouda et al., 2007, Echarte et al., 2011, Andrade et al., 2012, Coll et al., 2012). Although in most cases the

Conclusion

Intensification feasibility improves when growing seasons are longer, so that the northern areas of the Pampas are the most suitable for these alternatives. While double summer crops were limited to long growing season environments, under irrigation the productivities of all the intensification alternatives increased as the growing season became longer. Interestingly, across environments, the performance of relay crops and intercrops was very similar.

For all intensification alternatives, the

Acknowledgements

This work was partially funded by CREA, INTA, Monsanto Argentina and BASF. J.P. Monzon and J.F. Andrade hold scholarships from CONICET, the Research Council of Argentina. J.L. Mercau is funded by a grant from the International Research Development Center (IDRC – Canada, Project 106601-001). O.P. Caviglia and F.H. Andrade are members of CONICET. We would like to thank anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript.

References (32)

P.A. Calviño et al.
Development, growth and yield of late-sown soybean in the southern Pampas
Eur. J. Agron.
(2003)
O. Caviglia et al.
Intensification of agriculture in the south-eastern Pampas I. Capture and efficiency in the use of water and radiation in double-cropped wheat–soybean
Field Crops Res.
(2004)
L. Coll et al.
Capture and use of water and radiation in summer intercrops in the south-east Pampas of Argentina
Field Crops Res.
(2012)
L. Echarte et al.
Yield response to plant density of maize and sunflower intercropped with soybean
Field Crops Res.
(2011)
C.A. Francis et al.
Effect of relative planting dates in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) intercropping patterns
Field Crops Res.
(1982)
S. Fukai et al.
Processes determining intercrop productivity and yields of component crops
Field Crops Res.
(1993)
J.P. Monzon et al.
Modelling management strategies for wheat–soybean double crops in the south-eastern Pampas
Field Crops Res.
(2007)
M.S. Neto et al.
Soil carbon stocks under no-tillage mulch-based cropping systems in the Brazilian Cerrado: an on-farm synchronic assessment
Soil Tillage Res.
(2010)
M. Tsubo et al.
A simulation model of cereal–legume intercropping systems for semi-arid regions II. Model application
Field Crops Res.
(2005)
M.K. Van Ittersum et al.
Yield gap analysis with local to global relevance – a review
Field Crops Res.
(2013)

E.F. Viglizzo et al.

Assessing the cross-scale impact of 50 years of agricultural transformation in Argentina

Field Crops Res.

(2011)

J.N. Volante et al.

Ecosystem functional changes associated with land clearing in NW Argentina

Agric. Ecosyst. Environ.

(2012)

R.W. Willey

Resource use in intercropping system

Agric. Water Manage.

(1990)

H. Xia et al.

Long dynamics of root length and distribution and shoot biomass of maize as affected by intercropping with different companion crops and phosphorus application rates

Field Crops Res.

(2013)

G. Zhang et al.

Increasing cropping intensity in response to climate warming in Tibetan Plateau, China

Field Crops Res.

(2013)

R.G. Allen et al.

Crop Evapotranspiration Guidelines for Computing Crop Water Requirements, Irrigation and Drain. Paper No. 56

(1998)

Cited by (39)

Maize planting date and maturity in the US central Great Plains: Exploring windows for maximizing yields
2023, European Journal of Agronomy
Region-specific guidelines for maize in the US Great Plains are needed to account for variability in farmer practices and inherent soil and climate differences. Therefore, it becomes critical to define environment tailored management strategies for maize crop to improve and sustain yields over time. The aims of this study were to: i) define homogenous maize yield environments classified as related to the maximum yield and its stability over time in the US central Great Plains region; ii) explore the combinations of planting date and hybrid maturity that lead to optimal yield for each of the previously defined homogenous maize yield environments; and iii) identify environments presenting different windows for maximizing yields (combinations of planting date by hybrid maturity). Hybrid maturity (growth cycle) by planting date combinations were explored at 70 sites within central and eastern Kansas and northern Oklahoma (herein defined as the US central Great Plains region) using 30 years of historical weather data. In addition to the analysis of an extensive maize field dataset, a crop growth model, Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM), was utilized to evaluate the crop yield and phenology of all hybrid maturity by planting date combinations to define environment tailored management strategies. The simulated yields were spatially clustered based on attainable yield and stability over time to delimit more homogeneous productivity environments. Overall, greater yields were attained with long-maturing hybrids (comparative relative maturity, CRM, 101 and 115). Delaying the planting date from April to mid-May decreased yield in eastern environments. Moreover, late planting maintained yields and increased stability in central environments. For central Kansas and Oklahoma, anticipation of physiological maturity date (3–16 days) with reduced yield penalties (<5%) were possible by using short-season hybrid maturities (CRM 85). Future scenarios for intensification could be explored in those environments presenting more windows for maximizing yields, either with early planting and harvest dates or via late planting providing time for a short crop before maize. Adoption of more region-specific guidelines for maize management could help to optimize yield and its stability over time and seek further opportunities to diversify risk and intensify our current maize-based farming systems in the US central Great Plains.
Relay cropping for sustainable intensification of agriculture across temperate regions: Crop management challenges and future research priorities
2023, Field Crops Research
Relay cropping (RC) is a multiple cropping system that consists in planting a second crop into a standing first crop prior to its harvest. RC has potential to address food security and environmental sustainability via spatio-temporal diversification of cropping systems. Key potential benefits of RC include increased crop productivity, net economic returns, land use efficiency, soil fertility, efficient nutrient cycling, and pest control (pests sensu lato that include animal pests, pathogens and weeds). Despite these potential benefits, RC is poorly adopted worldwide, especially in Europe, compared to other forms of innovative cropping systems including cover- and inter-cropping. Here we review the literature to assemble information on key factors affecting the performance of RC by focusing on field crops grown for grain harvest purpose across temperate regions. We found severe knowledge gaps on crop management issues affecting the RC performance including the crop species and genotypic traits to be efficiently combined; the RC configuration including row number and width; optimal sowing dates and densities; irrigation, fertilization, and pest management; and technical problems in the harvesting phase. We identified that while RC may represent "a very versatile system" for farmers in terms of crop management - via an efficient utilization of time, labor, and equipment - this cropping system also requires a lot of anticipation and organization even before the primary crop sowing. This increases crop management complexity for the farmers including the difficulty in managing " the competition phase " and the need for specific farming equipments. Finally, we propose three research priorities to fill the current knowledge gaps in RC research and implementation, worldwide, viz. varietal evaluation and selection, RC modelling and development of decision support systems, and technological innovation for an improved RC management.
Exploring avenues for agricultural intensification: A case study for maize-soybean in the Southern US region
2023, Agricultural Systems
Citation Excerpt :
However, most of the 63 M ha cropland area available for multiple cropping in North America is under cereal or legume production on a single crop per year rotation (Siebert et al., 2010; Spiertz and Ewert, 2021; Waha et al., 2020). The expansion of crop intensification is limited by several factors including the length of the growing season (Cohn et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2013; Monzon et al., 2014; Yu et al., 2015) and the availability of water (Arvor et al., 2014; Cohn et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2013). Current experience with temporal intensified cropping systems in North America was associated with summer legumes and winter cereal rotational schemes.
Crop intensification is a key aspect for achieving global food security and exploring options for optimizing land use and environmental resources. Following this rationale, a maize (Zea mays L.) – soybean (Glycine max L.) double cropping was tested to intensify current agricultural systems in the Southern region of the United States (US).
The aims of this study were to i) assess the feasibility of cultivating maize-soybean double crop in the Southern US, ii) explore the best scenario of maize-soybean crops integrating field data with APSIM crop growth model via calculation of the land equivalent ratio (LER), and iii) evaluate the risk of crop failure for each crop combination.
For this case study, one year field research and in-silico experiments using 30-years of weather data were analyzed to evaluate the different lengths of growth cycle for both crops for yield, LER, and percentage of success. The feasibility of the maize-soybean sequence was determined by increasing yield gain for the soybean crop while maintaining similar yield for maize crop.
Simulated LER values ranged from 1.1 to 1.3 with the maize hybrid 110 comparative relative maturity followed by a soybean maturity group 3.0 as the best combination for maximum LER. Lastly, long-term simulations confirmed the low risk associated with maize-soybean double crop sequences across sowing dates.
Expanding the implementation of this farming system could produce additional benefits not only on productivity and land use efficiency but in overall economic return for farmers in the Southern US region.
A modeling approach to explore the influence of different crop rotations on water-table depths and crop yields in the Pampas
2022, Soil and Tillage Research
In humid plains with shallow water-tables, vegetation and groundwater influence each other through different mechanisms. Therefore, agricultural management decisions, such as the selection of the crop rotation, can affect water-table levels and these, in turn, can affect the crop performance. In this work, we evaluated the effect of different crop rotations on water-table levels and crop yields in the Argentine Pampas, a region that shows rising water-tables in the last decades that challenge agricultural activities. For this purpose, we modeled the dynamic of water-table depth in different topographic positions with Hydrus-1D and we used empirical models to estimate the grain yield. Crop rotations evaluated were wheat/soybean (W/S), wheat/soybean – maize (W/S – M), cover crop/maize – soybean (CC/M – S) and soybean – maize (S – M), and the simulation period extended throughout 41 growing seasons. Simulated water-table levels and crop yields showed a satisfactory matching with field observations, providing enough confidence for modeling exercises. According to modeling results, the crop rotation clearly affected the water-table depth, with the most intense rotation (i.e. W/S) showing the deepest water-table (e.g. W/S = 2.40 m vs. S–M = 1.90 m in the backslope). In the shoulder, the W/S rotation deepened the water-table in such an extent that more than 76 % of the time it was located below 3.5 m. However, with the least intense crop rotation (S – M) the proportion of time that the water-table remained deeper than 3.5 m depth was reduced to only 15 %. In the footslope, the least intense rotation showed the water-table level riskily shallow (< 1 m depth), negatively affecting most crops, almost half the time (48 %), while with the W/S rotation this percentage was reduced to 14 %. Through their influence on water-table depth, crop rotations also affected grain yields as suggested by empirical models. In maize, the predicted yields were maximum in the backslope for all rotations (~11 Mg ha^-1), while they fell more strongly in the footslope with the least intense rotation (−28 %) but in the shoulder with the most intense one (−31 %). In soybean, the topographic position for which the highest yields were predicted depended on the crop rotation, being the footslope for W/S and the backslope for the other rotations. Our work provides novel insights on the influence of agricultural management on water-table levels and crop yields, as well as new tools to help in decision-making aimed at a more efficient management of water resources.
Foresight for corn-to-ethanol mills in the Southern Brazilian Amazon: Energy, economic and environmental analysis
2021, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
Citation Excerpt :
It is a system that combines soybean of short-cycle and corn on the second harvest [56]. Besides a more significant production per unit of cultivated area, second-crop no-tillage practices provide better soil protection and optimize farms’ resources [56]. The adoption and improvement of this ‘technological package’ have resulted in a fast expansion of grains produced in the Midwest Region in Brazil.
A sustainable expansion of corn-based and sugarcane-based ethanol production could induce food safety and also decrease the Southern Brazilian Amazon’s extensive cattle farming and deforestation of new pasture areas. The present work aims to evaluate a technological prospect regarding the strategies and market potential of bioenergy and bio-products generation for a corn-based production system. A ‘Strategic Foresight’ approach was formulated and thoroughly analyzed. Overall, it showed that productivity improvement of livestock could be accomplished, and light vehicles’ energy demand using anhydrous and hydrous ethanol could also be enhanced. The results demonstrated that greenhouse gas emissions from a ‘Corn-to-Ethanol’ production system are smaller than the conventional Mills. The Foresight analysis identified that the positive energy balance from ethanol provides more energy than its industrial consumption. ‘Corn Ethanol’ production processes are integrated in six (6) “Flex Mills” in Brazil by taking advantage of the existing installations for sugarcane processing with a production ranging from 250 to 500 million liters/year. The State of Mato Grosso shall have twelve (12) Ethanol Mills in “Full” operation until 2021. The SWOT analysis in this study revealed that: the economy's development could generate direct and indirect jobs, potentially supporting the energy transition to a low-carbon economy through the valorization of agricultural and livestock products, and thus allowing the expansion of confined livestock, pig, and fish farming. Finally, the Strategic Foresight showed the multi-tiered importance of technological application and cooperation in the agro-industrial sector.
Delayed maize leaf senescence increases the land equivalent ratio of maize soybean relay intercropping system
2020, European Journal of Agronomy
Different planting pattern affects the leaf senescence of maize under intercropping systems, which regulate the grain yield of maize plants. In this study, we observed that a narrow-wide-row planting pattern in maize soybean relay intercropping system (MS) improved the leaf greenness and green leaf area, delayed the leaf senescence process in maize and increased the photosynthetic rate of maize leaves during the reproductive stages of maize in MS. In a three-year field experiment, soybean was relay-intercropped with maize under different planting patterns (1M1S, “50 cm + 50 cm” 1-row of maize and 1-row of soybean with an equal row distance of 50 cm; and 2M2S, “40 cm + 160 cm” narrow-wide-row planting pattern, where 2-rows of maize were planted in narrow rows, and 2-rows of soybean were planted in wide rows, and 60 cm distance was maintained between the rows of maize and soybean) of MS, and both planting patterns of MS were compared with sole cropping systems of maize and soybean.
Compared with 1M1S, planting pattern 2M2S significantly increased the number of green leaves (by 36%), leaf greenness (by 17%), and leaf nitrogen content (by 13%) at the dent stage (R5). The improved leaf nitrogen content in 2M2S at R5 significantly increased the green leaf area (by 16%, from 4170 cm² plant⁻¹ in 1M1S to 4960 cm² plant⁻¹ in 2M2S) of maize, indicating that leaf senescence of maize plants was delayed, which in turn significantly enhanced the photosynthetic rate of maize leaves at R5 by 57% in 2017, 75% in 2018 and 49% in 2019 than 1M1S. Overall, in 1M1S and 2M2S, relay-cropped maize produced 100%, and 89% of sole maize yield and relay-cropped soybean produced 27% and 66% of sole soybean yield, respectively. Importantly, compared to 1M1S, the decline of maize yield by 11% in 2M2S was compensated by a substantial increase in soybean yield by 147%, and 2M2S achieved the highest land equivalent ratio value of 1.54 compared to the land equivalent ratio value of 1.27 in 1M1S. Our results suggest that by selecting the appropriate planting pattern or stay-green maize hybrids, we can improve the land equivalent ratio of maize soybean relay intercropping system.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Maize–soybean intensification alternatives for the Pampas

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Experimental locations

Meteorological conditions

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Eur. J. Agron.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Soil Tillage Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Agric. Ecosyst. Environ.

Agric. Water Manage.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Crop Evapotranspiration Guidelines for Computing Crop Water Requirements, Irrigation and Drain. Paper No. 56