Productivity of wheat/faba bean intercropping systems in response to sulphur fertilization and seed rate under contrasting management conditions

Abstract Two field experiments carried out in contrasting production system (conventional versus organic) investigated the effects of sulphur (S) fertilization and wheat seed rate in wheat/faba bean (bean) intercropping system. For the conventional experiment, S fertilization reduced wheat seed yields and biomass yields substantially. Maximum wheat seed yields were 278 g/m2 and 391 g/m2 for S applied and S withheld respectively. On the other hand, at 200 wheat seeds/m2 application of S significantly increased bean intercrop seed yield. Bean seed yields were 195.8 g/m2 and 81.9 g/m2 for S and without S respectively. For the seed yield, based on crop performance ratio (CPR), wheat in the intercrop was more efficient than the sole crop only at 200 wheat seeds/m2 when S was withheld as indicated by CPR value of 1.11. The maximum CPR for the bean of 1.87 was obtained at 200 wheat seeds/m2 when S was applied. For both wheat and bean, application of S had no substantial effects on harvest index. Whilst application of S had a positive effects on accumulated photosynthetically active radiation by the intercrop, radiation use efficiency was conservative in response to S fertilization. For the conventional experiment, it was concluded that bean competed with the wheat intensely for S than for N leading to higher yields for the bean when S was applied than when S was withheld. Hence, wheat intercrop seed yields were substantially reduced when S was applied. By contrast, in the organic experiment, S fertilization had no significant effects on the above-mentioned variables.