Studies on uptake of potassium in maize/green pepper intercropping

摘要

Intercropping is practiced in many parts of world instead of monocropping to improve crop productivity through the effective use of water, nutrients and solar energy. It was popular in traditional agriculture system and has been widely used in China.Maize is an important food crop in China. Green pepper is an important flavoring in Chinese daily life. Maize is adapted to high temperature and can effectively use solar energy, while green pepper is not suited to strong light. The intercropping of twocrops can improve the use efficiency of solar energy and space. There are many soil-borne diseases in monocropping system of green pepper, which can be restrained in maize/green pepper intercropping system. The pot experiment was conducted to investigatethe potassium contents of maize and green pepper plants in the maize/green pepper intercropping system and monocropping system. Potassium contents of rhizosphere soil, plants and crop biomass were determined at various growth stages. The results showedthat potassium contents in intercropped maize were higher than that in monocropped maize. Potassium contents in intercropped green pepper was not increased, compared with monocropped green pepper. Maize/green pepper intercropping unproved biomass of maize, but reduced biomass of green pepper.