Effect of Intercropping on the Deep Root Development and Nutrient Uptake in Sugar Beet – Chicory Mixture

Sustaining an increasing human population with decreasing soil resources is a great challenge of the 21^st century. Suboptimal availability of water and N are primary limitations to plant growth in the low-input agroecosystems in developing nations, whereas intensive fertilization at the cost of substantial environmental pollution is a problem in rich countries. The development of crops with greater rooting depth addresses these challenges. Deeper rooting improves water and nutrient uptake, which in turn reduces the need of application of external resources. In our study, we investigate the effect of intercropping on the deep root development and nutrient uptake in sugar beet – chicory mixture. The crops were chosen due to their deep roots and similar growing periods. We hypothesize that in the intercropping system one of the component crops develops roots below the root surface of the other crop, which results in deeper nutrient uptake in comparison to crops growing in pure stands. Crops will be grown in the field as monocultures and in mixture. Root growth will be monitored with minirhizotron method up to 4 m depth. Nutrient uptake will be studied using stable isotopes and ingrowth core methods. Additionally, root biomass estimation through DNA extraction from soil will be investigated. We expect that the results will help to answer the questions of whether the intercropping enhances deeper root growth and nutrient uptake in comparison to sole crops. With this knowledge, exploitation of the subsoil resources by deep roots would contribute to enhanced food production in a sustainable way. The study will start in spring 2018 and preliminary results will be presented.