Dr Penny Roberts1,2,3, Mr Dylan Bruce1, Ms Dili Mao1,2
1South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Clare, Australia, 2The University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, Australia, 3Mallee Sustainable Farming, Tailem Bend/Mildura, Australia
Biography:
Dr Penny Roberts has a passion for the application of agricultural science to address challenges such as adaptation of farming systems to a changing climate, overcoming production constraints and supplying a growing population with nutritious food. Penny has taken on a new role of Research Manager at Mallee Sustainable Farming that covers the Mallee environments in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, is an Affiliate Associate Lecturer at The University of Adelaide, and formally a Research Scientist at SARDI.
Abstract:
Frost continues to be a major abiotic constraint in Southern Australian cropping systems that limits the diversity of pulse crops adopted in high frost risk environments. The novel technique of frost mitigation using intercropping was undertaken in research experiments conducted from 2021 to 2023 at Farrell Flat in the Mid North of South Australia. The experiments involved sowing mixtures of two or more species in a single-skip row arrangement. In each treatment mix, lentil was present in a row on its own or with either one or two physically taller crop species (canola, faba bean, barley) in the alternate row. The mixtures were then compared to growing each of the components as sole crops. To determine the frost protection potential for the taller intercrop species to protect the shorter lentil plants, lentil pods were assessed each year following a reproductive frost event to determine differences in the frost damage to the developing lentil pods. The percentage of frost damaged pod was greater in treatments with more open canopy structure such as lentil-barley than when treatments of lentil-canola and lentil-faba bean achieved canopy closure over the lentil rows. These results demonstrate the potential for intercropping as a management strategy in this frost prone environment.