Intercropping Induce Changes in Above and Below Ground Plant Compartments in Mixed Cropping System

Abstract

ARTICLE INFO abstract Crops growing in a mixture is an ancient agricultural practice and usually been used for improving yield and growth of the crops and to fulfill the world fast growing population food demand. The two crops growing on same soil zone may be in direct competition to utilize the available resources because planting plants on same land using the same resources for normal growth. In intercropping system there may be facilitative and competitive interaction among the plants in both above and below ground plants compartments. The intension of intercropping is to utilize the use of physical, temporal and spatial resources both above and below ground plant compartments by maximizing the complementary interaction and minimizing the competitive ones. The changes and complex interaction both in upper and underground plant parts in inter-cropping system those adopted by local farmers in China are not yet fully understood. Information's from such studies are likely to provide knowledge about the complex interactions among two crops growing in a mixture. This study was therefore assessed to perceive how plants in mixture change the above below ground compartments and how they interact.