Wheat–chickpea intercrops are not well studied, despite the importance of these two species in increasing agricultural profitability and ensuring nutritional and food security. The present study aims to assess the intercropping arable system’s services under contrasting field management and climate conditions. Simultaneously, this assessment focuses on the most agronomic and ecological indices widely used in the literature. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum durum L.cv. VITRON) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.cv. FLIP 90/13 C) were cultivated, both in sole crop and intercrop during the 2018/2019 growing season. A field experiment was carried out under controlled conditions at three contrasting pedoclimatic sites and under three levels of N fertilization. Both grain and N yield of mixture crop were significantly higher (+11%) when chickpea and durum wheat were grown together under either low or moderate N application. Soil N availability as compared to the critical level increased by more than 19% from flowering to harvest stage for intercropped wheat under low N application (N-30 and N-60), while it decreased significantly for intercropped chickpea. In rich N soils and under low rainfall conditions (site 1 and 3), intercropping was generally more advantageous for yield (+14%), N yield (+23%), and land use (103 and 119.5% for grain and N yield, respectively) only with reduced N fertilization as assessed using both land equivalent ratio (LER) and land-use efficiency (LUE). Competition dominance was directly affected by changes in climatic conditions over sites; intercropped wheat was more competitive than their respective chickpea under low rainfall conditions. These findings illustrate the crucial role of competitive index assessment in intercropping to promise a robust method for crop N and yield diagnosis during fertilization decision-making.

中文翻译：

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使用对比土壤气候条件下的农业生态竞争指数了解小麦-鹰嘴豆间作对氮肥的响应

尽管小麦-鹰嘴豆间作在提高农业盈利能力和确保营养和粮食安全方面具有重要意义，但尚未对其进行深入研究。本研究旨在评估在对比田间管理和气候条件下间作耕地系统的服务。同时，该评估侧重于文献中广泛使用的最广泛的农艺和生态指标。硬粒小麦 ( Triticum turgidum durum L.cv. VITRON) 和鹰嘴豆 ( Cicer arietinum简历 FLIP 90/13 C) 在 2018/2019 生长季节以单一作物和间作作物栽培。在受控条件下，在三个对比鲜明的土壤气候地点和三种施氮水平下进行了田间试验。当鹰嘴豆和硬粒小麦在低施氮或中等施氮条件下一起种植时，混合作物的谷物和氮产量均显着提高（+11%）。与临界水平相比，间作小麦（N-30 和 N-60）在低施氮条件下，从开花到收获阶段，土壤氮素有效性增加了 19% 以上，而间作鹰嘴豆则显着降低。在富含氮的土壤和低降雨条件下（地点 1 和 3），间作通常对产量（+14%）、氮产量（+23%）和土地利用（粮食和氮产量分别为 103% 和 119.5%）更有优势, 分别）仅在使用土地当量比 (LER) 和土地利用效率 (LUE) 进行评估时减少施氮量。竞争优势直接受到场地气候条件变化的影响；在低降雨量条件下，间作小麦比各自的鹰嘴豆更具竞争力。这些发现说明了竞争指数评估在间作中的关键作用，为施肥决策过程中的作物氮素和产量诊断提供了一种可靠的方法。