Rainfed vetch-barley mixed cropping in the Syrian semi-arid conditions

A field experiment on vetch and barley grown in monoculture and in mixed culture was conducted under rain-fed conditions throughout two growing seasons. Plants were either subjected to three sequential harvests, or were harvested only once, at physiological maturity. Our results showed the advantage of a mixed cropping system of vetch and barley over sole cropping under rainfed conditions in terms of dry matter production, total nitrogen content, and land use efficiency expressed as land equivalent ratio (LER). This advantage was more pronounced in the plants harvested once at the end of the season than those subjected to the three successive harvests. Based on this result, a single seasonal rather than several harvests would be recommended under similar rainfed conditions. Nitrogen fixation in vetch measured by the¹⁵N-isotope dilution method, varied with the number of harvests and with cropping system. The percentage of N derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa) of vetch in mixed culture was in most cases higher than in monoculture. The poor competitiveness of vetch for soil N uptake was responsible for the higher soil N uptake by barley and therefore, a higher %Ndfa in vetch. Positive and high final nitrogen balance was observed in the mixture. We excluded, under the current experimental conditions, the possibility of N-transfer from vetch to barley.