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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (4): 100-111.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2025180

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Effects of intercropping oat with different densities on alfalfa seed yield and its constituent factors

Wen-hui DENG(), Xiao-na ZHAO, Jia-yi YONG, Si-yu GUAN, Guo-qiang HU, Teng-fei WANG, Hai-ying HU()   

  1. College of Forestry and Grassland,Ningxia University,Yinchuan 750021,China
  • Received:2025-05-08 Revised:2025-06-04 Online:2026-04-20 Published:2026-02-07
  • Contact: Hai-ying HU

Abstract:

The aim of this research was to determine the optimal density and seeding rate of oat for alfalfa seed production under intercropping conditions in the Yinbei irrigation district. To this end, a field experiment was conducted with a split-plot design with two factors. The main plots consisted of four oat seeding rates (S1: 90 kg·ha-1; S2: 135 kg·ha-1; S3: 180 kg·ha-1; S4: 225 kg·ha-1), and the subplots included four row ratio treatments (Z0W2: sown with no narrow rows and two wide rows; Z0W3: sown with no narrow rows and three wide rows; Z1W2: sown with one narrow row and two wide rows; Z1W3: sown with one narrow row and three wide rows). The alfalfa seed yield and its components under different treatments were measured. The results show that as the oat seeding rate increased, the plant height of alfalfa and oat, reproductive branches per unit area, number of florets per inflorescence, number of pods per inflorescence, number of seeds per pod, actual seed yield, and theoretical seed yield initially increased and then decreased, whereas the thousand-seed weight continued to increase. Soil water storage was significantly negatively correlated with alfalfa seed yield (P<0.05). The treatment with seeding rate S3 and row ratio Z1W2 optimized alfalfa seed yield components and achieved the highest yield.

Key words: density configuration, Medicago sativa+Avena sativa intercropping, soil moisture, alfalfa seed yield, grey relational analysis