Document Type : Original Article
Author
Crop Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, Egypt
Abstract
Two field experiments were carried out at the Experimental Station Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, El-Bostan Region, El-Behera Governorate, Egypt, during 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 winter growing seasons. This study aimed to invest?tigate the effect of four Egyptian wheat cultivars (Giza 168, Sakha 94, Gemmiza 9 and Sids 1), as well as six intercropping patterns of wheat with faba bean on wheat productivity under sandy soil conditions. The six intercropping patterns were: solid sowing of wheat at the three seeding rates, 300,350 and 400 grains m-2 and/or intercropped with Sakha1 faba bean cultivar by (1:1) alternate rows, 20 cm apart. A split-plot design with four replications was used in each experiment. The wheat cultivars occupied the main plots while, the intercropping patterns were arranged in the sub-plots. The most important obtained results can be summarized as follows: Wheat cultivars were significantly different in most studied traits, except for plant height, biological yield ha-1, straw yield ha-1 and harvest index (%) traits, in both seasons. Giza 168 cultivar surpassed the other three studied cultivars in grain yield ha-1 and its components in terms of spike length (cm), number of grains spike-1, number of spikes m-2and 1000-grain weight (g), in both studied seasons. The solid plantings of wheat had the highest significant means of grain yield ha-1 and its studied components in terms of spike length (cm), number of spikelets spike-1, number grains spike-1, number of spikes m-2, biological yield ha-1, straw yield ha-1 and 1000- kernel weight (g), in both seasons, compared to intercropping treatments. Planting wheat solely at the low seeding rate; i.e., 300 grains m-2 was significantly different compared with the sole wheat plantings, seeded with the higher rates; i.e., 350 plus 400 grains m-2 for most studied traits, in both seasons, except for spike length, biological yield (in the second season), number of grains spike-1, number of spikes m-2, straw yield ha-1, harvest index (%) and 1000-grain weight (g), in both seasons. On the contrary, plant height character of solid wheat plants (in both seasons) was significantly decreased under the low seeding rate, 300 grains m-2, compared to wheat solid planting, but, seeded wheat with the higher seeding rates; i.e., 350 plus 400 grains m-2. All studied traits were not significantly affected (in both seasons) by increasing seeding rates for solid wheat plantings from 350 to 400 grains m-2, except for the number of grains spike-1 that was significantly decreased from 32.28 to 30.38, averaged in both seasons. Intercropped wheat, with faba bean by planting wheat at a seed rate of 300 grains m-2 significantly increased both spike length, from 10.42 to 11.14 cm, and number of spikelets spike-1, from 12.44 to 14.17, averaged in the two studied seasons, compared with intercropped wheat with faba bean, but, seeded wheat with the higher seeding rates; i.e., 350 plus 400 grains m-2. Regarding the other studied traits, they were statistically similar in both seasons for both treatments. Intercropped wheat with faba bean by seeded wheat with 400 grains m-2 insignificantly decreased all studied traits in both seasons, except for both plant height and harvest index, compared with intercropped wheat with faba bean by seeding wheat with 350 grains m-2. A significant interaction was detected between wheat cultivars and intercropping patterns (VxC1) for the number of spikelets spike-1 and grain yield ha-1 in the first season. Intercropping Sakha 1 faba bean cultivar at 166667 plants ha-1 with Giza 168 wheat cultivar seeded with the rate of 350 grains m-2 in (1:1) alternate rows, 20 cm apart, under El-Bostan Region conditions, could be advised to obtain a high productivity of wheat.
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