Introduction: The Solar Corridor Concept
2014
Kremer, R. J. (Robert J.) | Deichman, C LeRoy
The solar corridor crop system (SCCS) is a method to improve crop yields by rearranging the spatial positioning of plants in an alternative crop architecture designed to maximize the capture of solar radiation and to improve crop growth. The SCCS is an advancement of strip intercropping based on cultivating two or more crops simultaneously in different strips across the field for greater use of solar radiation, water, and nutrients compared with either of the component crops grown in monoculture. A properly developed SCCS offers the potential to increase sustainable corn (Zea mays L.) yields. Understanding the various physiological and cultural factors that contribute to grain yield and soil conservation benefits of the SCCS is needed as a foundation for implementing long-term and replicated field studies to validate this production system. This need was the impetus for two International American Society of Agronomy symposia: “The Solar Corridor Concept” (2011) and “The Solar Corridor’s Potential to Increase Solar Radiation Use Efficiency” (2012). Articles in this special Agronomy Journal section address key symposia themes including physiological indices developed to describe the response of crops to growth factors; cultural practices for enhancing effects of physiological factors in crop growth; and field assessments of the SCCS for agronomic performance and soil quality effects. Thus, an up-to-date understanding of the physiological, cultural, and soil quality factors that are basic to the solar corridor is provided, which is an important and critical aid for future evaluation necessary for practical development of the SCCS as an option for corn production.
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