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ABSTRACT Improving carbon (C) sequestration has become a critical research priority for global agricultural sustainability. Carbon‐dynamics and their influences on microbial‐populations and crop‐productivity in maize‐soybean intercropping system (MSI) remain unclear. Experiments were carried out at Renshou, Lezhi, and Yaan to investigate the carbon‐balance in terms of C‐sequestration across plants‐organs and its mechanistic influences on microbial‐populations and crop‐productivity in MSI. Soybean was planted with maize in two different relay‐intercropping patterns (R11, 40:60 cm and R12, 50:50 cm) and the results compared against maize‐monoculture (MM) and soybean‐monoculture(SM). Results showed that carbon‐accumulation in MSI was significantly ( p < 0.05) higher than in sole‐cropping. Carbon accumulation was 5.96%, 23.9%, and 217.6% higher in MM, SM and R11 respectively, compared to the R12. Contrast to MM, the two MSI pattern (R11 and R12) showed increased carbon accumulation by 27.5% and 18.1% in straw, 19.1% and 15% in grains, and 22.2% and 18.6% in roots, respectively. Compared to the SM and MM, the MSI (R11 and R12) improved the fungi by 45%–60% and 33%–45%, bacteria by 51%–56% and 33%–35%, and actinomycetes by 47%–49% and 35%–38%, respectively. Maximum grain‐yield of 11356.2 kg ha −1 and 10370.3 kg ha −1 in R11 and R12 at the Lezhi, which were 117.76% and 452.02%, higher than MM and SM, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that PC1 explained 93.89%, and PC2 explained 5.2% of the variation. Microbial‐numbers showed strong positive‐correlation with carbon‐accumulation in root ( R 2 = 0.9207, p < 0.05), straw ( R 2 = 0.8683, p < 0.05) and grain‐yield ( R 2 = 0.8639, p < 0.05). These findings suggest that intercropping enhances soil‐fertility, microbial‐community, and mitigation of climate‐change and boosts crop‐productivity.
Khan et al. (Sat,) studied this question.