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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Enhancing Soil Physicochemical Properties,
Quinoa Yield, and Nutrients through
Intercropping of Quinoa with Legumes
1
College of Agronomy and Life Sciences, Shanxi Datong University 037009, Datong, China
2
Facility Agriculture Research and Development Center, Shanxi Datong University 037009, Datong, China
3
Key Laboratory of Organic Dry Farming for Special Crops in Datong City, Datong, China
4
Government College Women University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Submission date: 2024-05-04
Final revision date: 2024-07-20
Acceptance date: 2024-08-03
Online publication date: 2024-10-28
Publication date: 2025-07-22
Corresponding author
Sumera Anwar
Department of Botany, Government College Women University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan., Pakistan
Department of Botany, Government College Women University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan., Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(5):5935-5949
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Intercropping of quinoa with legumes has been studied infrequently, despite quinoa’s global
importance as a nutrient-dense crop with resilience to diverse growing conditions. This study aims to
elucidate the benefits of intercropping by comparing quinoa monocropping with intercropping with red
bean, mung bean, and black bean, focusing on yield, plant nutrients, and soil physicochemical properties.
The land equivalent ratio of quinoa/legumes intercropping consistently exceeded 1, peaking at 1.52 for
quinoa/red bean intercropping, indicating higher productivity than monocropping. Quinoa/red bean
intercropping increased the nutrient contents of quinoa plants throughout the quinoa growth period
and exhibited the highest levels of ammonium nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium,
and organic matter content, alongside the highest activity of sucrase, alkaline phosphatase, and urease
enzymes in the soil during the quinoa seedling stage. At maturity, quinoa/mung bean demonstrated the
highest levels of available phosphorus and total nitrogen, while quinoa/red bean displayed the highest
sucrase and urease enzyme activity. Significantly positive correlations were found between the nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium contents of quinoa and most soil nutrients. Regression analysis revealed
a positive relationship between soil phosphatase activity and quinoa yield. Intercropping quinoa with
legumes improved yield, plant nutrients, soil nutrients, and soil enzyme activity, with quinoa/red bean
exhibiting the most remarkable effect.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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