Intercropping Study to Facilitate Increased Food Production
Board Location: #146
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Plant Research
Session: 4
Jazzmine Meekie - Harris -Stowe State University
Co-Author(s): Randi Jacobs-James, Jayashree Balakrishna, and Rekha Meyer, Harris-Stowe State University
Food insecurity is projected to increase in the face of climate change, and this is especially true for vulnerable populations living in food deserts. Climate change is predicted to impact food productivity which will have major effects on vulnerable populations in urban and rural areas. Reducing food insecurity requires practices that increase crop yield, be adaptable to weather extremes and reduce the carbon footprint. Intercropping, the practice of growing two different crops together has advantages in terms of growing shade-tolerant and intolerant plants. If plants with varying moisture needs are grown together, this has the potential for water conservation resulting in increased food production. This research investigates the use of intercropping as a technique to mitigate the effects of climate change in areas designated as food deserts. Our research question explores (a) the level of moisture availability to individual plants within intercropped plants and (b) the effect of shading on intercropped plants. For the moisture experiment, four different types of plants in a single pot and moisture levels were measured twice a day. As control, the 4 plants were grown separately. Seeds were planted in plug flats and then transplanted after 2 weeks into 1-gallon pots. For this experiment, the first intercropped group had Sunflower, Mustard green, Lettuce, and Garden Bean. The second intercropped group had Sunflower, Mustard Green, Squash, and Cabbage. The plants were drought-stressed, and moisture measurements were taken. The moisture levels in the 2 groups started at the same level but diverged after one week. The first group of plants showed growth only in the sunflower and squash plants. The second group of intercropped plants showed wilting in sunflower, mustard greens, and cabbage plants. Since the stems were bent under conditions of drought, they were shaded by the squash plant. For the shading experiment, a short crop (spinach) was grown under the shade of taller bean (nitrogen fixer) and tomato plants (non-nitrogen fixer). Chlorophyll levels using a Dualex instrument were measured in leaves of intercropped versus control plants. Results showed that chlorophyll levels decreased in spinach and tomato supporting the hypothesis that shading lowers chlorophyll levels. Future research involves growth of using intercropped plants in different types of soils to determine moisture availability under these conditions.References: Maitra, S., Hossain, A., Brestic, M., Skalicky, M., Ondrisik, P., Gitari, H., … & Sairam, M. (2021). Intercropping—A low input agricultural strategy for food and environmental security. Agronomy, 11(2), 343. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/documentation/ https://www.epa.gov/climateimpacts/climate-change-impacts-agriculture-and-food-supply
Funder Acknowledgement(s): This work was supported by a grant from the Taylor Geospatial Institute
Faculty Advisor: Rekha Meyer, meyerre@hssu.edu
Role: I performed the experiments, created the experimental design, and collected all the data. Also wrote the abstract