Performance of Durum Wheat Varieties in Intercropping Systems with Almond Trees

Abstract

Agroforestry represents a key pillar of sustainable agriculture in Morocco, with strong potential to enhance both crop productivity and system resilience. Identifying durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) varieties with superior adaptability to tree–crop interactions is essential for optimizing resource-use efficiency in such systems. This study evaluated the agronomic and biochemical performance of six durum wheat varieties, Hamadi, Karim, Kyperounda (2777), Land, and Nachit in the first year; and Hamadi, Karim, Cocorit, and Nachit in the second year, under sunny (SN) and shaded (SH) microenvironments within almond-based agroforestry, as well as under monoculture conditions (MC). A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates was used. In the first year, the shaded environment favored the performance of Nachit, which achieved the highest yield (1,389 kg ha⁻¹), 36% higher than Karim (964 kg ha⁻¹), confirming its strong shade tolerance. Under sunny conditions, Kyperounda (2777) outyielded Nachit by 31% (940 vs. 688 kg ha⁻¹), indicating better adaptation to high-light environments. During the second year, Cocorit slightly outperformed Nachit under shaded conditions (1,230 vs. 1,125 kg ha⁻¹, +9%), whereas Nachit achieved the highest yield under sunny conditions (1,480 kg ha⁻¹), 12% above Cocorit. In monoculture plots, Cocorit performed substantially better than both Karim and Nachit by 32% and 67%, respectively, suggesting that Nachit is more suited to agroforestry systems than to high-light, full-sun monocropping. These findings underscore Nachit’s resilience and highlight its notable shade tolerance, supporting its suitability for integration into almond-based agroforestry systems. Although differences in proline and soluble sugar contents were not statistically significant, proline levels were higher under sunny conditions in the first year, indicating increased stress likely contributing to reduced yield. In contrast, during the second year, higher proline accumulation occurred under shaded conditions, reflecting increased stress associated with that year’s climatic conditions. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of context-specific varietal selection and highlights the strong genotype × microenvironment interaction in almond–wheat systems. The results also emphasize the value of expanding research across contrasting soil types, rainfall regimes, and tree management practices to better understand varietal plasticity and optimize agroforestry performance in diverse Moroccan agroecosystems.