Effect of intercropping sunflower with legumes on some sunflower morphological traits

Abstract

Given that climate change is a burning issue, agriculture must turn to more sustainable and environmentally friendly systems, counting intercropping. Within a two-year study of intercropping sunflower with legumes, the influence of this system on sunflower plant height and head diameter was investigated. The aim of research was to evaluate the effects of sunflower-legume intercropping on these traits, considering the possibility of competition between crops. The field trial was set up in April 2017 and 2018 at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia experimental field in moderate-continental climate. Year 2017 was extremely arid with the sum of precipitation different compared to 2018. Plant height and head diameter of hybrids Rimi PR, Dukat and NS Gricko, intercropped with common vetch, red clover and alfalfa were compared with control, i.e. same sunflower hybrids grown as a sole crop. It was observed that intense growth of common vetch suppressed the growth of sunflower, and led to a decrease in measured traits in all three hybrids. Results indicated that the following combinations of sunflower and legumes are most desirable: NS Gricko/RC, Dukat/ALF, Dukat/RC and Rimi PR/ RC depending on the agro-ecological conditions. Given that the experiment was performed in years that varied significantly in agro-ecological conditions, the results indicated that red clover and alfalfa can mitigate the negative effects caused by lack of precipitation and high temperatures. In order to better understand all aspects of sunflowerlegume intercropping, further research, which should include other morphological, qualitative and quantitative indicators, is needed.

Obzirom da su klimatske promene goruće pitanje današnjice, poljoprivreda se mora okrenuti održivijim i ekološki prihvatljivijim sistemima, kao što je združenja setva. U okviru dvogodišnjeg istraživanja združivanja suncokreta sa leguminozama, ispitan je uticaj ovog sistema na visinu biljaka i prečnik glave suncokreta. Cilj istraživanja bila je procena uticaja združivanja leguminoza sa suncokretom na ove osobine, uzimajući u obzir mogućnost kompeticije između useva. Poljski ogled je postavljen u aprilu 2017. i 2018. godine na eksperimentalnom polju Instituta za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo, Novi Sad, Srbija u umereno-kontinentalnoj klimi. Godina 2017. bila je izuzetno sušna sa količinom padavina različitim u odnosu na 2018. godinu. Visina biljaka i prečnik glave hibrida Rimi PR, Dukat i NS Gricko združenih sa grahoricom, crvenom detelinom i lucerkom uprođeni su sa kontrolom, tj. istim hibridima koji su uzgajani u čistom usevu. Primećeno je da intenzivan početni porast grahorice suzbija rast suncokreta i dovodi do smanjenja visine biljaka i prečnika glave kod sva tri hibrida. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na to da su sledeće kombinacije suncokreta i leguminoza najpoželjnije: NS Gricko/RC, Dukat/ALF, Dukat/RC and Rimi PR/RC u zavisnosti od agroekoloških uslova. Obzirom na to da je eksperiment izveden u godinama koje su se značajno razlikovale u agroekološkim uslovima, rezultati pokazuju da crvena detelina i lucerka mogu ublažiti negativne efekte izazvane nedostatkom padavina i visokim temperaturama. Kako bi se bolje razumeli svi aspekti združivanja suncokreta sa leguminozama potrebna su dalja istraživanja koja će uključiti i ostale morfološke, kvalitativne i kvantitativne pokazatelje.