Purpose To study the effects of kiwifruit/ginger intercropping on photosynthetic characteristics and yield of ginger, providing scientific evidence for the application of this intercropping model.
Methods Ginger variety ‘Changjiang No.1’ was used as research object, and three cultivation patterns were set up: shaded ginger monoculture (CK), unshaded ginger monoculture (US), and kiwifruit/ginger intercropping (KG). The effects of these three cultivation patterns on the illumination intensity, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters, antioxidant system, morphological indicators, and yield of ginger were compared.
Results Compared with CK, there was no significant difference in illumination intensity, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters (except transpiration rate), catalase activity, 1,5-diphosphocarboxylase activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and morphological characteristics (except longitudinal length of rhizome) of ginger under the KG. Compared with US, the KG significantly reduced the illumination intensity by 58.36%, while the chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll contents significantly increased; net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate increased significantly, while stomatal conductance and intercellular CO2 concentration decreased significantly; the activities of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, and soluble protein content increased significantly, but MDA content decreased significantly; plant height, stem diameter, leaf number, morphological characteristics of underground parts (except diameter of ginger ball), and yield of ginger significantly increased.
Conclusion Kiwifruit/ginger intercropping can effectively reduce illumination intensity, increase ginger chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters, and antioxidant enzyme activity, promote ginger growth, and increase yield. Therefore, this intercropping pattern has excellent application potential and promotion value.
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