THE IMPACT OF SOWING DIRECTIONS ON WHEAT AND COTTON YIELDS IN RELAY STRIP INTERCROPPING

The increase in human population, urbanization, and climate change are causing a decrease in agricultural land in our country. The relay strip intercropping method has the potential to reduce competition for cultivation areas between wheat, which is a staple crop, and cotton, which is a cash crop. Therefore, it has a great importance to use this system in the most efficient way in terms of resource utilization, especially sunlight. The research was conducted at the trial fields of the Menemen Research, Application, and Production Farm belonging to the Faculty of Agriculture at Ege University, during the 2017/18 and 2019/20 production seasons. In the study, the effects of different sowing directions (N-S: north-south and E-W: east-west) on wheat and cotton yields in the IWC (relay strip intercropping of wheat and cotton) system were evaluated. According to the results obtained from the trials, although different planting directions had a slight effect on wheat yield parameters, there was no significant impact on plant yield and grain yield. However, rainfall and increasing temperatures during the grain filling period of wheat in the second year led to a significant increase in plant (36%) and grain (39%) yields. Cotton plants were more affected by the difference in planting direction than wheat. The average fiber yield was determined as 658 kg/ha in the E-W direction, while it was about 18% less in the N-S direction (560 kg/ha). Unlike wheat, temperature rises in the second year caused significant losses in cotton yield. The average fiber yield recorded in the first year at 679 kg/ha dropped to about 21% less in the second year (539 kg/ha). Our results indicate that cotton seedlings grown for a certain period under the shade of wheat have exhibited faster development in the E-W compare to N-S direction, where they receive more sunlight, and was able to optimize yield.