Intercropping of walunt orchard and arable crops as an innovative approach in agroecosystems

Intercropping involves combining more plant species on the same parcel of land at the same time. The significance of intercropping is in the cultivation of plant species in systems that are less susceptible to different stress conditions. The aim of our research is to investigate yields of arable crops (wheat, buckwheat, barley and maize) intercropped between tree rows of grafted walnuts. The field trial was establishedat at a site in Đakovo, eastern Croatia, walnuts were eleven years old. Crop yields per cropped area did not differ much between the intercropped system and sole cropped system. However, crop yields per total area were lower by 30-40% in the intercropped system compared to the sole cropped control site. Stabile and high crop yields per cropped area indicate that there is no potential negative, allelopathic relationships of plants in such systems. Although yields per total area were lower, land equivalent ratio calculations have shown that the productivity of such intercopped orchard increases with introducing an intercrop. In conclusion, growing crops under the shade of trees results in lower crop yields but higher productivity of the area and at the same time increases the ecological aspect of the field by increasing biodiversity.