Effect of Different Tillage Practices on Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) Cultivation in a Crop Rotation System with Intercropping Triticosecale-Pisum sativum

Abstract

The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of different soil tillage practices on sunflower cultivation in a rotation system with intercropping of Triticosecale-Pisum sativum. For this purpose, a two-year experimental field with a 5% slope was established in central Greece. There were four treatments with three replications each. The treatments were as follows: (a) no tillage planting parallel to the contour (NTC-PAC), (b) conventional tillage planting parallel to the contour (CTC-PAC), (c) no tillage planting perpendicular to the contour (NTC-PEC), and (d) conventional tillage planting perpendicular to the contour (CTC-PEC). During the experiment, the plant height, leaf area index, specific leaf area, plants’ total nitrogen, and plants’ proteins were measured. According to the results, the plant height ranged from 64.9 (CTC-PAC) to 85.2 cm (NTC-PEC) for the first year and between 66.5–86.5 cm in for the CTC-PAC and NTC-PEC treatments in the second year. Furthermore, the leaf area index (LAI) and specific leaf area (SLA), plants’ total nitrogen and protein content and N-uptake were affected positively by the no tillage practice. To conclude, sunflower is a promising crop in a rotation system intercropping Triticosecale-Pisum sativum, cultivated under rainfed sloping conditions.