Grain yield stability of individual cereal-legume mixtures grown across Europe
Authors/Creators
- 1. Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
- 2. University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
- 3. The James Hutton Institute, Errol Road, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK
- 4. University of Münster, Münster, Germany & Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
- 5. Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Description
Mixed cultivation of two or more crop species on the same piece of land at a given time
may enhance crop yield stability. We assessed yield stability by first calculating the expected coefficients of variance (CV%) for cereal-legume mixtures grown across contrasting environments based on the corresponding yield variation of the mixture components grown separately in pure cultures; and then dividing the expected CV% by the observed CV% for each mixture. The ratio between the expected and observed CV% is the stability index, with values >1 indicating greater stability of the mixed crops and values <1 indicating greater stability of the crops grown separately. Stability indices for eight out of 11 barley/pea and wheat/faba bean mixtures grown across Europe were between 0.7 and 1.8 (mean 1.0), whilst two barley/pea mixtures had indices >3.7. The results are relevant in the discussion of crop mixtures as means to increase yield stability.
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Weih_et_al_2021_AAB_Aspects146.pdf
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