Is soybean intercropping better or monoculture better?

Soybean intercropping will be better. First of all, what is intercropping? Intercropping: planting two or more crops at the same time with a certain row spacing on a piece of land. This cultivation method is called intercropping.

The growth period of intercropping two crops is longer. Intercropping usually includes intercropping tall crops with short crops, such as corn, soybeans or vegetables. Intercropping can closely plant high-yield crops, make full use of marginal effect to obtain high yield, and dwarf crops are less affected. Generally speaking, due to good ventilation and light transmission, light energy and CO2 can be fully utilized, and the yield can be increased by about 20%. Among them, the fewer rows of high crops and the more rows of low crops, the better the intercropping effect. Usually two rows of high crops are used, and four rows of low crops are called 2: 4, 4: 6 or 4: 4. The interspecific proportion can be determined according to the specific situation.

So, what is the best effect of soybean intercropping? The answer is: corn.

Corn is tall, likes sunshine and has shallow roots. It mainly absorbs and utilizes nutrients from the upper soil. More nitrogen fertilizer is needed in the growing period. However, soybean is relatively shade-tolerant, deeper than corn root system, and can absorb and utilize nutrients in the soil. It doesn't need much nitrogen fertilizer, but it needs a lot of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Therefore, corn and soybean grow together, instead of competing for nutrients, they get along well and can make full use of the land and sunshine.

Generally speaking, the main benefit is to use the differences of different species in sunshine, nutrients, time and light temperature to maximize the use of land, realize the maximum benefit and protect the land to a certain extent.