Effects of Soybean with Corn Intercropping System on Sustainable Agriculture: Scientific Evidence from Egypt

In many parts of the Mediterranean regions, intercropping soybeans with corn offers the potential to improve and expand soybean farming practices. The results of several years of research on how intercropping affects soil microbial diversity, land and water use efficiency, soybean productivity, net profit, insect populations, disease incidence, mineral nitrogen (N) fertilization, and greenhouse gas emissions in Egypt are presented in this paper. The study's goals were to assess the advantages of net profit, integrated pest control, water and land use efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and mineral N fertilization, as well as the possibility of increasing the area under soybean production by intercropping with corn. Intercropping soybeans and corn in Egypt can increase productivity per unit area through the land equivalent ratio (LER), water consumption use (WCU), and net profit when compared to sole corn planting. Moreover, the rhizosphere of intercropped corn showed a greater total population of azotobacter sp. and rhizobia sp. Additionally, intercropping reduced greenhouse gas emissions and the demand for mineral N fertilizer as compared to growing corn alone. On the other hand, compared to sole soybean planting, intercropping decreased nematode infections, soybean mosaic virus (SMV), and aphid populations. In Türkiye, Morocco, Italy, Spain, and France, intercropping systems may result in more robust and sustainable systems.