Investigating the Different Patterns of Forage Maize and Sorghum Intercropping at Different Tillage Levels

In conditions where don't have enough water for irrigation, intercropping of forage plants is one of the ways to achieve sustainable agriculture. Biochemical and physical properties of soil tillage system can affect the yield of plants in intercropping. Therefore, with the aim of investigating the forage yield and competitive indices of intercropping, this experiment was performed in the cropping seasons of 2020-2021. Treatments included conventional, minimum, and no tillage system. Intercropping patterns also included monoculture of forage sorghum and maize, alternate row cultivation maize and forage sorghum and alternate cultivation on planting rows. The results showed that the highest plant height (295 cm) and leaf area (6.88) was obtained in intercropping and conventional tillage. The highest forage yield was also observed in sorghum monoculture. However, the land equivalent ratio of mix intercropping with 1.17 showed the superiority of intercropping over monoculture. Evaluation of competitive indicators such as dominance index, relative crowding coefficient, and competitive ratio showed that forage maize is the predominant plant in intercropping conditions. The system productivity index with 8.11 showed that intermediate cultivation on planting rows was superior to other treatments in conventional tillage conditions. The results showed that in conventional tillage and intercropping conditions, acceptable yield was obtained; this advantage can increase water efficiency and use of sorghum in intercropping.