Corn-pulse relay intercropping system for improved cropping intensity and soil health
A sustainable relay intercropping approach pairing corn with common bean, mungbean, or cowpea to boost soil health, water and nutrient use efficiency, and overall agronomic productivity. Leverages pulse crops as bio-mulches to reduce evaporation, control erosion, and increase carbon input into agro-ecosystems.
Overview
This research proposes a corn-pulse relay intercropping system designed to improve cropping intensity, soil health, and resource use efficiency in agricultural production. By pairing corn with pulse crops such as common bean, mungbean, or cowpea, the system aims to enhance agronomic productivity while supporting more sustainable farming practices. Pulse crops contribute atmospheric nitrogen fixation, improved phosphorus availability, and increased biomass carbon input, which together strengthen soil health. The intercropping arrangement also functions as a bio-mulch, reducing evaporation losses and soil erosion while potentially disrupting pest and disease cycles through intercrop diversification.
Technical specifications
Key features:
- Relay intercropping of corn with common bean, mungbean, or cowpea to improve cropping system productivity
- Pulse crops act as bio-mulches to reduce soil evaporation and erosion
- Enhanced nitrogen fixation and phosphorus availability through pulse root systems
- Improved soil water and nutrient use efficiency with reduced fertilizer requirements
- Higher carbon management index through increased biomass carbon input
- Pest and disease disruption through intercrop diversification
- Assessment of growth performance, phenology, shoot height, shoot dry weight, total leaf area, leaf succulence, and root phenotypes
- Productivity metrics including system productivity index, replacement value, monetary advantage index, actual yield increase, and intercrop advantages
Technology readiness level
The research team has prior validation from sugarcane-mungbean intercropping and monocropping studies, where intercropping demonstrated better growth and yield outcomes, more efficient soil water and nutrient use, less fertilizer demand, reduced weed infestation, and increased economic returns. The proposed corn-pulse relay intercropping project is at an early experimental stage, seeking a one-year partnership to explore the underlying synergistic mechanisms and validate performance across multiple pulse crop pairings.
About Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University is a large, comprehensive public research university in Lubbock and an anchor of the Texas Tech University System, coupling academic breadth with applied, collaborative research. Industry partners engage through a research park and incubator, co-located labs, shared core facilities, and West Texas field sites for pilot-scale and real-world testing. Proximity to the Permian Basin and regional manufacturing, plus collaboration with the system’s health sciences center, creates clear pathways for product development, clinical translation, and talent pipelines. Research is supported by competitive federal funding from agencies such as NSF, DOE, USDA, NIH, DoD, and NASA, and a dedicated technology transfer office streamlines IP, licensing, startup formation, and corporate contracting.
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