Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 14:13:e19655.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.19655. eCollection 2025.

Optimizing nutrient management protocol for Ophiopogon japonicus-corn intercropping: impacts on growth, yield, and medicinal quality

Xiaoyang Cai #  1   2 , Heling Fan #  1   2 , Hongmei Deng  1   2 , Wenjing Li  1   2 , Haohan Wang  1   2 , Jiaming Zhang  1   2 , Min Li  1   2
Affiliations

Optimizing nutrient management protocol for Ophiopogon japonicus-corn intercropping: impacts on growth, yield, and medicinal quality

Xiaoyang Cai et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Ophiopogon japonicus is a valuable medicinal plant commonly intercropped with corn due to limited arable land in its primary cultivation areas. Optimizing fertilization management to enhance both crop yields and medicinal quality is a key research focus. This study investigates the effects of different fertilization treatments-nitrogen sources (urea and ammonium nitrate), micronutrient supplementation (magnesium and manganese), and phosphorus-potassium (P+K) fertilization-on the growth, yield, and medicinal quality of O. japonicus and corn in an intercropping system. A randomized complete block design was employed to evaluate eight treatments. Agronomic traits, biomass production, and medicinal quality indicators were analyzed using cluster analysis, correlation analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA). Results showed that nitrogen source significantly affected corn height, with ammonium nitrate outperforming urea. Micronutrients and P+K had significant interactive effects on stem diameter and leaf development. Fresh biomass and silage yield were primarily influenced by nitrogen source and P+K, while stem biomass was affected by micronutrient supplementation. The highest corn yield and biomass were recorded in treatments T5 (urea + P + K), T7 (urea + Mn + Mg + P + K), and T8 (ammonium nitrate + Mn + Mg + P + K). For O. japonicus, micronutrient applications significantly increased tuberous root numbers, while P+K fertilization promoted plant height and fibrous root growth. All three fertilization factors significantly impacted tuber biomass, the main determinant of medicinal yield. T8 showed the highest overall yield of O. japonicus, followed by T5 and T7. Medicinal quality evaluation through cluster analysis and PCA identified T5 as the optimal treatment for enhancing key medicinal components. The optimal strategy for maximizing yield in the intercropping system includes ammonium nitrate (150 kg N/ha), magnesium sulfate (45 kg/ha), manganese sulfate (15 kg/ha), superphosphate (75 kg P2O5/ha), and potassium sulfate (450 kg K2O/ha). For improving medicinal quality, the best treatment includes urea (150 kg N/ha), superphosphate (75 kg P2O5/ha), and potassium sulfate (450 kg K2O/ha). Future studies should assess the adaptability of this intercropping system across different soil and climatic conditions. Incorporating precision agriculture technologies may further refine fertilization strategies, while long-term monitoring is recommended to evaluate impacts on soil health and environmental sustainability.

Keywords: Intercropping system; Micronutrients; Nitrogen fertilizer types; Top-dressing; Yield and quality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Intercropping diagram of Ophiopogon japonicus and corn.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Diagram of Ophiopogon japonicus parts.
Figure 3
Figure 3. (A–C) Effects of different nutrient management protocols on agronomic traits of corn.
N, nitrogen fertilizers; M, micronutrient fertilizers; T, topdressing; F, F-statistic in multifactor analysis. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences at the P < 0.05 level.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Effects of different nutrient management protocols on the accumulation of fresh biomass in corn.
Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences at the P < 0.05 level. Different uppercase letters indicate significant differences in the total yield of corn (sum of different parts) at the P < 0.05 level.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Circular clustering diagram of corn growth indices of different nutrient management protocols.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Principal component analysis (PCA) plot of corn.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Effects of different nutrient management protocols on agronomic traits of Ophiopogon japonicus (OJ).
Figure 8
Figure 8. Effects of different nutrient management protocols on the accumulation of fresh biomass in different parts of Ophiopogon japonicus.
Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences at the P < 0.05 level. Different uppercase letters indicate significant differences in the total yield of corn (sum of different parts) at the P < 0.05 level.
Figure 9
Figure 9. Circular clustering diagram of Ophiopogon japonicus (O]) growth indices of different nutrient management protocols.
Figure 10
Figure 10. PCA plot of Ophiopogon japonicus growth indices.
Figure 11
Figure 11. Effects of different nutrient management protocols on quality of Ophiopogon japonicus.
Figure 12
Figure 12. Circular clustering diagram of Ophiopogon japonicus quality indices.
Figure 13
Figure 13. Correlation analysis of growth parameters in Ophiopogon japonicus under different nutrient management protocols.
Figure 14
Figure 14. Effects of different nutrient management protocols on the grading of Ophiopogon japonicus.
Figure 15
Figure 15. 3D PCA of the quality indicators and medicinal properties of Ophiopogon japonicus.
MOPA means methylophiopogonanone A, MOPB means methylophiopogonanone B.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Almeida MJD, Dornelles P, Rezende TAMD, Silva LDLD, Silva FG, Duarte LGR, De Oliveira Filho JG, Egea MB. Influence of intercropping on Eugenia dysenterica (Mart.) DC, fruit quality. Horticulturae. 2024;10:1028. doi: 10.3390/horticulturae10101028. - DOI
    1. Aulakh MS, Malhi SS. Interactions of nitrogen with other nutrients and water: effect on crop yield and quality, nutrient use efficiency, carbon sequestration, and environmental pollution. Advances in Agronomy. 2005;86:341–409. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2113(05)86007-9. - DOI
    1. Awal M, Koshi H, Ikeda T. Radiation interception and use by maize/peanut intercrop canopy. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 2006;139:74–83. doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2006.06.001. - DOI
    1. Bertness MD, Callaway R. Positive interactions in communities. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 1994;9:191–193. doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(94)90088-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cai Y, Chen H, Tang X, Zhao J, Zhang H, Chen YQ, Chen W. The relationship between amino acid and lipid metabolism in oleaginous eukaryotic microorganism. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2022;106(9–10):3405–3417. doi: 10.1007/s00253-022-11931-0. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources