Effect of fertilizer levels on plant growth and nutrient accumulation in sugarcane/soybean intercropping system

In this study, the plant growth in sugarcane/soybean intercropping system and the intercropping advantage were evaluated by plot experiments under different levels of fertilizer. The results revealed that plant growth parameters had no significantly difference between intercropping soybean and sole cropping soybean, while the root parameters, the number of nodules and the weight of nodules were improved under no fertilizer. However most of growth parameters in intercropping sugarcane decreased, but the total root length of sugarcane was not affected by intercropping. The accumulation amount of nitrogen,phosphorous and potassium in intercropping sugarcane was significantly lower than that in sole cropping, whereas only accumulation amount of phosphorus and potassium in intercropping soybean was significantly lower than that in sole cropping soybean under no fertilizer. The LER value of normal fertilizer and no fertilizer were all up to 1, which indicating that there were intercropping advantages under two fertilizer levels. The total accumulation amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in intercropping system was higher than those in sole intercropping. All these results indicated that the intercropping advantage did not show on the single plant but on enhancing land use rate.