Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) relay strip intercropping involves cultivating wheat sown in autumn and cotton sown in spring, allowing the two crops to grow together for ∼2 months. Despite its prevalence in cotton-growing regions globally, this agricultural practice remains untapped in Turkey, where the emphasis on resource use efficiency and the competition between staple and cash crops are paramount. To address this, we conducted a study comparing three cropping systems under both well-watered and limited water conditions: sole wheat with a row spacing of 13.5 cm, sole cotton with a row spacing of 70 cm, and an intercropping system consisting of four rows of wheat and two rows of cotton, with row spacings of 13.5 cm and 40.5 cm, respectively. In intercropped wheat and cotton, the relative wheat yield was 0.68, while the relative cotton yield was 0.73, resulting in a combined relative yield of 1.41 when compared to monoculture. The land equivalent ratio (1.44) and area time equivalent ratio (1.08) consistently exceeded 1.0, particularly under limited watering conditions and concurrent heat stress observed in the second year of the experiment. Our findings indicate that wheat–cotton relay intercropping holds significant potential as a highly effective approach to enhance the production of both cotton and wheat in Turkey, particularly in stressful conditions such as limited water availability.

中文翻译：

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限水条件下小麦与棉花间作套种


小麦（Triticum aestivum L.）-棉花（Gossypium hirsutum L.）套种间作包括种植秋季播种的小麦和春季播种的棉花，使两种作物一起生长约 2 个月。尽管这种农业实践在全球棉花种植地区很普遍，但在土耳其尚未开发，因为土耳其非常重视资源利用效率以及主粮作物和经济作物之间的竞争。为了解决这个问题，我们进行了一项研究，比较了浇水良好和水分有限条件下的三种种植系统：行距为 13.5 厘米的单麦、行距为 70 厘米的单作棉花以及由四行组成的间作系统小麦和两行棉花，行距分别为 13.5 厘米和 40.5 厘米。在小麦和棉花间作中，小麦相对产量为0.68，而棉花相对产量为0.73，与单作相比，总相对产量为1.41。土地当量比（1.44）和面积时间当量比（1.08）始终超过1.0，特别是在实验第二年观察到的有限浇水条件和同时发生的热胁迫下。我们的研究结果表明，小麦-棉花间作套作作为提高土耳其棉花和小麦产量的高效方法具有巨大潜力，特别是在水资源有限等压力条件下。