Worldwide, soil degradation due to erosion is still a major issue. Minimum tillage, intercropping, and alley cropping are important features of conservation agriculture and food security, but the farming communities are reluctant to accept these practices due to area reduction and plant competition. We investigated maize sole cropping (T1) as current farmers’ practice; T2: maize intercropped with chilies, tillage and fertilization; T3: maize-chili intercrop, mini. tillage, fertilization, Jack-bean relay cropping; T4: Like T3 but with hedges; T5 and T6 like T3 and T4, respectively, but without fertilization on Thai uplands during 2010 and 2011. Maize above ground biomass (AGB) was higher in T2 than T1 during both years. Light use efficiency (LUE) for AGB was 1.44–1.56 and 1.44–1.96 g DM MJ−1 in T4 during 2010 and 2011, 17–47% higher than T1, respectively. Land equivalent ratio was 1.23 and 1.17 in T2 while 1.28 and 1.21 in T4 during 2010 and 2011, respectively. Maize grain nitrogen (Ng) was significantly lower in unfertilized treatments. Intercropping with soil conservation enhanced land use efficiency with soil protection against erosion. Understanding spatial variations of LUE, Ng, as well as their impact on crop productivity are useful for fine-tuning crop management in conservation agriculture and sustainable land use on uplands.

中文翻译：

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在泰国西部高地以玉米为基础的种植系统中优化资源利用的可持续土地利用选择

在世界范围内，由于侵蚀造成的土壤退化仍然是一个主要问题。少耕、间作和小巷种植是保护性农业和粮食安全的重要特征，但由于面积减少和植物竞争，农业社区不愿接受这些做法。我们调查了玉米单作（T1）作为当前农民的做法；T2：玉米与辣椒间作，翻耕施肥；T3：玉米-辣椒间作，迷你。耕作、施肥、油豆接茬；T4：与 T3 类似，但有对冲；T5 和 T6 分别与 T3 和 T4 相似，但在 2010 年和 2011 年期间没有在泰国高地施肥。这两年 T2 中的玉米地上生物量 (AGB) 都高于 T1。2010 年和 2011 年 T4 中 AGB 的光利用效率 (LUE) 为 1.44-1.56 和 1.44-1.96 g DM MJ-1，比 T1 高 17-47%，分别。2010 年和 2011 年，T2 的土地当量比分别为 1.23 和 1.17，T4 的土地当量比分别为 1.28 和 1.21。未施肥处理的玉米籽粒氮 (Ng) 显着降低。间作土壤保持提高了土地利用效率，防止土壤侵蚀。了解 LUE、Ng 的空间变化及其对作物生产力的影响，有助于微调保护性农业中的作物管理和高地可持续土地利用。