Mixed Cropping of Barley(Hordeum Vulgare)And Wheat
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Mixed cropping of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) landraces in the central highlands ofEritre a Woldeamlak Araia Promotor: Prof.dr .ir .P .C .Strui k Hoogleraar ind e gewasfysiologie Co-promotor: Dr.Dagne w Ghebreselassie Associate professor, University ofAsmara , Asmara, Eritrea Samenstellingpromotiecommissie : Prof.dr .ir .L .Stroosnijde r (Wageningen Universiteit) Prof.dr .ir .M . Wessel (Wageningen Universiteit) Dr.ir .L .Bastiaan s (Wageningen Universiteit) Dr.ir .C.J.M . Almekinders (Wageningen Universiteit) Dr. Bissrat Ghebru (University ofAsmara , Eritrea) ^jaUo^i^Zl Mixed cropping ofbarle y (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticumaestivum) landraces inth ecentra l highlandso f Eritrea Woldeamlak Araia Proefschrift ter verkrijging vand egraa d van doctor opgeza gva nd erecto r magnificus vanWageninge n Universiteit, Prof.dr . ir. L.Speelma n in hetopenbaa r te verdedigen op2 3 januari 2001 des namiddagst evie ruu r in deAul a m Financial support for the printing of this thesis was obtained from the Dr. Judith Zwartz Foundation, Wageningen, TheNetherlands . Woldeamlak Araia(2001 ) Mixed cropping of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) landraces in thecentra l highlands of Eritrea. Woldeamlak A.- [S.L.: s.n.]. 111. PhDThesi s Wageningen University.- Withref . - With summaries in English and Dutch ISBN: 90-5808-335-7 Subject headings: mixed cropping, landraces, barley, wheat, Eritrea Propositions 1. Mixed cropping of barley and wheat increases yield stability compared to barleyo r wheat solecrops . (thisthesis) 2. The yield advantage of barley and wheat mixtures over their sole crops is due to niche differentiation, caused by differences in crop phenology and growth. (this thesis) 3. Mixed cropping can play a major role in the on-farm conservation of biodiversity. 4. In hanfetz, barley shows greater competitive ability than wheat; intra- specific competitioni sstronge rtha ninter-specifi c competition forbarley . 5. In subsistence farming, the main function of diversity of landraces is its buffering capacityagains tstress . 6. Wherethere' s sweet,there' s always bitter. 7. Thema n whoremove s amountai nbegin sb ycarryin g awaysmal lstones . 8. Everything should bemad ea ssimpl e aspossible ,bu t not simpler. (AlbertEinstein) Propositions belonging toth ePh Dthesi so f Woldeamlak A. Mixed cropping of barley (Hordeumvulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) landraces inth ecentra lhighland s ofEritrea . Wageningen,2 3Januar y 2001. Abstract Acommo n cropping system in the central highlands of Eritrea is mixed cropping of barley (Hordeumvulgare) an d wheat (Triticum aestivum);i t is calledhanfetz (Tigrigna word). Mixtures maygiv e higher yield, better yield stability, better food quality and more animal feed. Factors affecting the productivity of mixtures include genotype combination, crop density andcomponen t cropratio . Grain yields differed significantly among genotype combinations incertai n years.A combinatio n of Ardu 12/60+ Kenya+ Man a gave high mean grain yield (2009 kg ha-1) and a relative yield advantage (RYT = 1.57) of 57% increase in grain yield over the sole crops.Harves t index, biomass, stand cover and thousand grain weight were well correlated with yield. Wheat plants were first suppressed by barley but later on grew taller than barley. The potential yield increase for mixtures over barley sole cropping mayb e associated with therelativ e height and higher light use (efficiency). Some genotype combinations also showed reasonable yield and resistance to stress with a drought susceptibility index < 1 such as IAR48 5 +Man a (DSI=0.565). Crop ratios of 100/50 (2275 kg ha"1) and 100/25 (2241 kg ha"1) were the best in grain yield when averaged over the three basic crop densities (100% = 100, 200 and 300 plants m~") and years. Barley showed greater competitive ability than wheat. For barley the intra-specific competition was more important than the inter-specific competition. In such studies, yield advantage can be either due to the density effect or complementary useo f resources.Th e drawback of the additive design is that yield advantage may be partly due to increased density. However, niche differentiation showed that mixtures shared resources efficiently and the yield advantage was the result of complementary use of resources. In the study under drought stress, an additive ratio (higher density) did not result in higher total yield compared to that in replacement series. The niche differentiation in both years under drought stress also showed that the yield advantage wasdu e tocomplementar y use of resources among thecro pspecies . Stability analysis of barley and wheat mixtures on yield data from a large set of experiments showed that mixed cropping was significantly more stable than barley and wheat sole cropping. Someo f the genotype combinations such as Ardu 12/60 + Kenya + Mana and Ardu 12/60 + Mana were more stable than others. The most promising genotype combinations and crop ratios obtained from this study have to be verified on farm and demonstrated to farmers before the technology isrelease d for use. Key words:mixe d cropping, genotype combinations, growth, light use efficiency, density, crop ratio, additive series, replacement series, drought stress, yield advantage, yield stability, competition, nichedifferentiation , barley, wheat. Addresses of the author and co-authors WoldeamlakAraia i s alecturer/agronomis t and staff member of the Universityo f Asmara, Eritrea. Address: Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture andAquati c Sciences,Universit y of Asmara, P.O.Bo x 1220,Asmara , Eritrea. Paul C. Struik is professor of Wageningen University in Crop Physiology. Address: Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Haarweg 333, 6709R ZWageningen , TheNetherlands . Dagnew Ghebreselassie is associate professor of the University of Asmara, Eritrea. Address: Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Aquatic Sciences,Universit y of Asmara, P.O.Bo x 1220,Asmara , Eritrea. Martin J. Kropff is professor of Wageningen University in Crop and Weed Ecology. Address: Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Haarweg 333,670 9 RZWageningen , TheNetherlands . Lammert Bastiaans is a staff member of Wageningen University in the Crop and Weed Ecology group. Address: Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Haarweg 333, 6709R ZWageningen , TheNetherlands . Acknowledgements First and foremost my sincere thanks and appreciation go to my esteemed promotor, Prof. Paul C. Struik, who guided me throughout the thesis work. He has spent his precious time and energy in frequently visiting thefiel d experiments in Eritrea and sharing his valuable scientific ideas and knowledge. His encouragement and patience had a positive and significant impact on my work. Thus working with him was fruitful and has added a lot to my knowledge. It is my sincere hope that this project will strengthen and encourage further research co-operations. I extend mygratitud e toDr . Dagnew Ghebreselassie, Head, Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture, University of Asmara, Eritrea whowa sm y co-promotor during the period of the thesis. His encouragement has assisted me in theprogres s of mywork . The field work was carried out at the Halhale research station and a field station in Mendefera, Eritrea.Th e thesis combined both field work and laboratory measurements. For this I should not forget Isaac Yosief from the College of Agriculture of the University of Asmara (graduate assistant at that time) for his assistance in the field and laboratory measurements. Isaac has even sacrificed his weekends and holidays during the field work. The co-operation rendered by the staffs of the Ministry of Agriculture in general and the Research and Human Resources Division inparticula r is also acknowledged. Thanks aredu et oLamber t Bastiaansan dMarti n Kropff for comments and co-authorship of two chapters and Gon van Laar for her assistance in the layout of the booklet. My thanks are also due to the members of the PhD discussion groupi n Cropan dWee dEcolog yfo r their feedback onpart s of thethesis . The University of Asmara is highly acknowledged for giving me the opportunity of higher learning. My sincere appreciation is forwarded to my beloved family namely my wife Genet and my children Semere, Samson and Betlehem whose patience has encouraged me tosuccee d inm yPh Dstudies . Contents Chapter 1: General introduction 1 Chapter 2: Biodiversemixe d cropping system of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) landraces in the highlands of Eritrea 15 Chapter 3: Effect of genotype combination on theproductivit yo f barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat {Triticum aestivum) mixtures: Biomass,grai n yield andyiel d component analysis 29 Chapter 4: Growth and lightus ei nbarle y (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown as solecrop s and inmixture s 53 Chapter 5: Yield advantage ingenotyp e combinations of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat(Triticum aestivum) mixtures 67 Chapter 6: Response of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotype combinations todrough t stress under mixed cropping 83 Chapter 7: Evaluation of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) mixed cropping in additive and replacement series:Competition , yield advantage and niche differentiation 105 Chapter 8: Effect of drought stress on theyiel d advantage and competition in barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) mixtures differing