Cotton-lily intercropping: a commonly used cotton field intercropping and relay cropping pattern

Cotton-lily intercropping is a cotton field intercropping pattern widely used in dryland sandy loam areas along the coast and along rivers. The two crops have little mutual influence and are mutually beneficial in fertilizer use, but note that lilies cannot be continuously cropped and must be rotated to a different crop.

This intercropping pattern generally has a bed width of about 3 m, with cotton planted in wide and narrow rows, wide row spacing 140 cm, narrow row spacing 50 cm, and 4 rows of cotton per bed. In the wide cotton rows, 6 rows of lilies are planted, with row spacing 20 cm and plant spacing 20-25 cm, 5000-6000 plants per mu. Cotton is raised as seedlings and transplanted, planted separately on both sides of the bed, 1800-2000 plants per mu. Lilies are harvested in July-August, with a yield of 600 kg per mu; cotton yields 80-100 kg per mu, with an output value of about 3000 yuan per mu and a net income of about 2000 yuan per mu.

Sowing and planting at the right time: lilies are sown in early to mid-October. Cotton is sown around April 10 and transplanted in mid-May.

Deep plowing before sowing: before sowing lilies, deeply plow the soil in the wide rows and finely level and harrow it so that the soil is loose and level, and at the same time apply 3000 kg of fully decomposed high-quality organic fertilizer or 100 kg of cake fertilizer per mu.

Scientific fertilization: lilies should receive the "four fertilizers" well: first, base fertilizer; before sowing, apply sufficient organic fertilizer in the wide cotton rows, and at sowing apply another 10 kg of urea, 30 kg of superphosphate, and 10 kg of potassium sulfate per mu. Second, winter fertilizer; at the end of Minor Cold, apply 1000 kg of human and livestock manure per mu. Third, strong seedling fertilizer; in early March, apply 1000-1500 kg of human and livestock manure per mu. Fourth, strong leaf fertilizer; in early to mid-May, apply 45-50 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. During the cotton growth period, fertilization should be appropriately adjusted; generally no fertilizer is applied in the early stage, and attention should be paid to controlling excessive growth. The flower and boll fertilizer should be applied heavily to ensure the fertilizer needed during the boll-setting period. In the later stage, if growth is weak, a top-covering fertilizer should be applied as a supplement.

Strengthen management: lilies are afraid of moisture, so a complete set of ditches should be opened and cleaned frequently, and ditches should be cleared promptly after rain to reduce waterlogging. In the later stage, cotton coexists with the lily seedling stage. After boll opening, the narrow rows should be pushed together into ridges to facilitate operations in the wide rows and the growth of lily seedlings.

"Commonly used cotton field intercropping and relay cropping patterns" ends with this issue. In cotton field intercropping and relay cropping, soybeans, mung beans, and summer vegetables, etc. can also be intercropped in the wide cotton rows to form cotton-legume intercropping patterns, cotton-vegetable intercropping patterns, and so on. The planting methods of these patterns are basically the same, the cultivation techniques are easy to master, and the comprehensive benefits are relatively high. However, note that the symbiotic period can only be during the cotton seedling and bud stage or the boll-opening stage, and the flowering and boll stage must be avoided; otherwise, the mutual influence is too great, and it is very difficult to obtain high yield and high efficiency.