Evaluation of vegetable-faba bean (Vicia faba L.) intercropping under Latvian agro-ecological conditions

BACKGROUND: Monoculture is used mostly in conventional agriculture, where a single crop is cultivated on the same land for a period of at least 12 months. In an organic and integrated growing approach, more attention is paid to plant-environment interactions and, as a result, diverse growing systems applying intercropping, catch crops, and green manure are being implemented. Thus, field experiments for evaluation of vegetable/faba bean full intercropping efficiency, in terms of vegetable and faba bean yield and protein content, were set up during two consecutive growing seasons (2014 and 2015). RESULTS: Data obtained showed that the most efficient intercropping variants were cabbage/faba bean (cabbage yield 1.27-2.91 kg m(-2), immature faba bean pods 0.20-0.43 kg m(-2)) and carrot/faba bean (carrot yield 1.67-2.28 kg m(-2), immature faba bean pods 0.10-0.52 kg m(-2)), whilst onion and faba bean intercrop is not recommended for vegetable growing since it induces a very low onion yield (0.66-1.09 kg m(-2)), although the highest immature faba bean pod yield was found in the onion/faba bean intercropping scheme (up to 0.56 kg m(-2)). CONCLUSION: Vegetable/faba bean intercropping can be used in practical horticulture for carrot and cabbage growing in order to ensure sustainable farming and environmentally friendly horticultural production. (C) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry