Weed suppression potential of annual medic in strip intercropping with barley

In organic cereal production weed infestation remains a major issue. Intercropping cereals with legumes not only may lead to increased cereal production but can be effective in weed suppression and improving forage quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of annual medic (Medicagoscutellata L.) in controlling weeds and improving barley (Hordeumvulgare L.) production in an organic low-input cropping system. Intercropping treatments were consisted of 1B:1M (one row of barley: one row of annual medic), 2B:2M, 4B:4M, 6B:6M, along with sole culture of both crops. The highest total dry matter yield was recorded from barley pure stand. Weed pressure was increased with increasing the number of annual medic rows and the greatest weed biomass was yielded from annual medic sole culture (1060 kg ha-1). This was in contrast to our expectation and suggest that annual medic is not weed suppressive. Although LER higher than unity was found in two of the four intercropping treatments (1B:1M, 2B:2M), trade-offs need to be evaluated to determine whether adding protein to the system by introducing annual medic can justify intercropping barley-annual medic in an organic cropping system with limited input.