Effects of maize plant type and row width in ginger/maize intercropping system on yield, economy, and interspecific...

Ginger/maize intercropping system improves land use efficiency and sustainable agriculture. Field experiments (with sole-cropped ginger (SG) and sole-cropped maize (SM) as controls) tested two maize plant types (flat and compact) and three row widths (2, 3, 4 m). Compared to sole cropping, intercropping reduced maize yield but increased ginger yield and total yield due to ginger's competitive advantage, yielding higher economic benefits. Land equivalent ratio (LER) and system productivity index (SPI) reached 2.07 and 67.46, respectively, and the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of the ginger/maize intercropping system was 1.28 to 1.65 times that of sole-cropped maize, showing obvious economic advantages. The aggressiveness (A) and competitive ratio (CR) of ginger were significantly higher than those of compact maize (ZH 2), while maize was the opposite. Therefore, all benefit indicators (LER, SPI, actual yield loss (AYL)), intercropping advantage (IA), monetary advantage index (MAI) and BCR were significantly higher in the flat maize treatment than in the compact maize treatment. Increasing row width significantly reduced the A and CR of ginger, but increased the A and CR of maize, resulting in a significant reduction in ginger, maize and total yield, and a significant reduction in economic benefits. In conclusion, in the ginger/maize intercropping system, the intercropping of ginger and flat maize under 2 m row spacing produced the weakest interspecific competition. Ginger had a competitive advantage and maize was at a competitive disadvantage. Under this configuration, the yields of ginger, maize, and the total system yield all reach the optimal level, with the most significant economic benefits.