Determination of Planting Pattern and Screening of Agricultural Machineries for Maize-Peanut Strip Intercropping: A Case Study in Henan Province of China

Abstract

Maize-peanut strip intercropping is an important method to solve the contradiction between grain and oil land competition, and achieve stable grain and oil production. However, there are no research reports on the selection and matching of agricultural machinery for such planting patterns at home and abroad. Therefore, this article takes the Henan Province of China as an example to carry out a study. The main content of this study is to determine the pattern of maize-peanut strip intercropping and screen the agricultural machinery from the perspective of deep integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy. A new strip intercropping pattern consisting of four rows of maize and two ridges (four rows) of peanut was determined. A series of operating machineries suitable for this planting pattern were selected for the needs of mechanized sowing, field spraying, and harvesting. Field experiments were conducted to further verify the applicability and reliability of the determined planting pattern and operating machinery. The yield of 4-4 strip intercropping is slightly lower than that of monocropping maize, but the yield of peanut per mu can be increased by 105.2 kg. Moreover, the yield per mu of 4-4 strip intercropping is about 40% of that of monocropping peanut. This study can effectively compensate for the lack of research on the screening of agricultural machinery for maize-peanut strip intercropping at home and abroad. It also can provide beneficial exploration for the full mechanized production of maize and peanut under this planting pattern, and provide reference for the mechanized production of other crops strip intercropping.