Yield and Fatty Acid Composition of Dragon’s head (Lallemantia iberica Fischer & C.A. Meyer) Intercropped with Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) Under Mulching and Biofertilizers

In the production of medicinal plants, it is a global approach toward sustainable agricultural systems and use of agricultural practices such as intercropping, application of biofertilizer and mulch to enhance the quantitative and qualitative performance of medicinal plants. Thus, two experiments were conducted with factorial arrangement based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications at the Research Farm of University of Tabriz in 2015 and 2016. The first factor was included sole cropping of purslane, sole cropping of dragon’s head, additive intercropping of dragon’s head + purslane (20, 40, 60 +100 %), and the mulch application as second factor including wheat straw mulch and no mulch; two types of fertilization including application of 100% chemical fertilizer and 50% chemical + biological fertilizers as third factor. Results revealed that the highest values of oil content and unsaturated fatty acids were observed in D20 + P100 intercropped plants, while the highly saturated fatty acid of palmitic content was observed in sole cropped. Mulch application had the highest yield and growth traits. Also, quantity and quality of dragon’s head was not significantly affected by replacing biofertilizers with chemical fertilizer. In other words, it can be used 50% chemical + biological fertilizers. The highest land equivalent ratio and relative crowding coefficient were obtained from dragon’s head with purslane intercropping (D40 + P100), wheat straw mulch application, and combinative application of chemical and biological fertilizers in second year. It seems that intercropping system (D40 + P100) and application of biofertilizers and mulch can be suggested as an appropriate agricultural method to reduce the consumption of chemical inputs and increase yield of dragon’s head.