Lupin (Lupinus sp.) produces protein-rich grains, but its adoption in cropping systems suffers from both its low competitive ability against weeds and its high yield variability. Compared with legume sole cropping, grain legume–cereal intercropping benefits include better weed suppression and higher yield and yield stability. However, the potential of enhancing crop competitive ability against weeds in additive winter grain legume–cereal intercrops is not well-known, and this potential in long crop cycles is even less studied. We studied how intercropping with a triticale (×Triticosecale) alters weed biomass and productivity of winter white lupin (Lupinus albus L.). The experimental setup consisted of eleven sites during a two-year period in western France. In each site-year, winter white lupin sole cropping was compared to winter white lupin-triticale intercropping in an additive sowing design. We found that intercropping reduced weed biomass at lupin flowering by an average of 63%. The rapid growth and high soil N acquisition of triticale compensated for the low competitive ability of lupin against weeds until lupin flowering. Competition from triticale in the intercrop reduced lupin grain yield (−34%), but intercropping produced a higher total grain yield (+37%) than did lupin sole cropping while maintaining the total protein grain yield.

Early strategies of crop growth and N acquisition can be critical for determining competitive interactions between weeds and crops. Grain legumes and especially lupins are known to be poor competitors against weeds. Grain legumes are known to have low mineral soil N uptake abilities. However, inter- and intraspecific differences in N uptake ability in relation to below-ground traits have received little attention. Our objectives were (i) to measure differences among lupins for a set of traits associated with early growth and N acquisition; (ii) to examine how this variation compares to differences between lupin and a cereal, triticale, and (iii) to assess if mixing lupin with triticale provides a higher potential than does pure lupin regarding plant biomass and mineral soil N acquisition early in the crop cycle. Lupin (12 genotypes) and triticale plants were grown separately and in mixed species pairs in a replacement design for 1 and 2 months in three rhizotron experiments. Shoot and root biomass, root length, root expansion dynamics, N₂ fixation and mineral soil N uptake were measured. Differences among lupin species and genotypes regarding traits related to early growth and to mineral soil N uptake were observed, but all lupins demonstrated slow early growth and low ability to absorb mineral soil N compared to triticale. In lupin–triticale mixture, a contrast in early growth strategies between species induced a higher total soil mineral N uptake compared with pure lupin. Complementarity between lupin and triticale persisted during the second month, when interactions began. This complementarity may allow for reduced competition between species, favouring higher triticale biomass production than in pure triticale, without compromising lupin growth.

Les protéagineux pourraient contribuer à réduire le déficit en protéines de l’Europe mais ils sont peu cultivés. L’association à une céréale permettrait de contourner leur variabilité de rendement et leur faible compétitivité vis-à-vis des adventices. Cette stratégie serait particulièrement pertinente pour le lupin blanc d’hiver, qui présente un fort potentiel de production de protéines mais un fort risque d’enherbement. Ce travail de thèse étudie en dynamique les interactions entre lupin, céréale et adventices afin de mettre en évidence les traits des espèces permettant d’accroitre leur complémentarité et la compétitivité vis-à-vis des adventices tout en sécurisant la productivité. L’étude d’un réseau de parcelles démontre que l’ajout de triticale permet d’augmenter la compétitivité vis-à-vis des adventices par rapport au lupin pur, d’obtenir un rendement supérieur et plus stable et de maintenir la production de protéines. Un essai en micro parcelles démontre le rôle majeur de la capture précoce d’azote (N) de la céréale pour accroitre la compétitivité vis-à-vis des adventices. Nous montrons que les rapports de compétition varient au cours du cycle et en fonction des espèces ou variétés ainsi que des conditions climatiques et influencent ainsi l’élaboration du rendement. De forts contrastes entre lupin et céréale pour des traits liés à l’acquisition précoce d’N sont décrits ainsi que leurs conséquences sur la mise en place de la complémentarité. Ce travail met en évidence que le choix d’espèces et de variétés aux traits complémentaires permet d’orienter les interactions entre lupin, céréale et adventices et ouvre des perspectives pour l’optimisation des performances.