THE EFFECT OF MAIZE-SOYBEAN INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS ON A SET OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

Abstract

This study set out to determine which seeding rate produces the maximum grain yield through the monocropping and intercropping of maize and soybeans using different seeding rates on the research and land of the Faculty of Agriculture, Ordu University, in 2016. To this end, the study used a randomized block experimental design with three replications. The treatments included a sole crop of maize, a sole crop of soybean, one row of soybean intercropped with one row of maize, two rows of soybeans intercropped with one row of maize, three rows of soybeans intercropped with one row of maize, one row of soybean intercropped with two rows of maize, and one row of maize intercropped with three rows of soybean. According to the results on maize, the chlorophyll concentration index ranged from 45.50 to 50.93, leaf area from 360.51 to 510.19 cm(2), ash content from 5.76 to 9.30%, protein content from 9.26 to 10.77%, crude fat content from 3.35 to 4.85%, palmitic acid content from 12.17 to 13.12%, stearic acid content from 1.98 to 2.44%, oleic acid content from 23.86 to 24.95%, linoleic acid content from 58.97 to 60.90%, linolenic acid content from 0.91 to 1.13%, unsaturated fatty acid content from 84.62 to 85.84%, saturated fatty acid content from 14.15 to 15.37%, unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio from 5.50 to 6.08%, and grain yield from 32.01 to 89.512 kg ha(-1). According to the results on soybean, the chlorophyll concentration index ranged from 42.33 to 44.43, leaf area from 32.41 to 41.38 cm(2), ash content from 9.67 to 10.82%, protein content from 42.92 to 45.38%, crude fat content from 19.65 to 20.77%, palmitic acid content from 10.39 to 10.77%, stearic acid content from 3.81 to 4.28%, oleic acid content from 19.86 to 20.29%, linoleic acid content from 58.01 to 58.98%, linolenic acid content from 6.58 to 7.07%, unsaturated fatty acid content from 84.92 to 85.54%, saturated fatty acid content from 14.45 to 14.99%, unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio from 5.66 to 5.91%, grain yield from 10.36 to 61.11 kg ha(-1), and the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) from 1.03 to 1.21. Considering all the properties investigated and LER together, three rows of soybean intercropped with one row of maize were found to be the most appropriate intercropping system.