Ecological Efficiencies or Intercropping Forage Crops with Citrus Plantation and Its Management Techniques

Intercropping experiments and surveying studies were conducted to observe the soil ecological effect of intercropping and its influence on growth of young citrus trees and on yield and fruit quality of productive citrus trees in newly planted and in productive citrus plantations located in the red soil hilly area of Juighua district, Zhejiang Province.The results showed that intercropping rye grass or Chinese milk vetch into newly planted citrus plantation could enhance the utilization rate of sun light, retard the reduction of soil temperature during autumn and winter and the increase of soil temperature during spring, narrow the range of daily temperature difference and be able to keep the soil warm in winter,decreruse soil and water erosion greatly under various conditions, but had some negative effects on the growth of summer hranches of the young citrus trees; and that long-term intercropping of Chinese milk vetch with productive citrus plantation could also enhance the utilization rate of sun light, maintain high fertilizer efficient, improve soil fertility significantly, increase fruit yield and improve the exterior quality of fruits. It has been proved that timely sowing.harvesting fertilizing and timely ploughing down proper amount of biomass are the important management techniques of enhancing the integrated efficiency of intercropping.