Seedling defoliation of cereal crops increases peanut growth and yield in an intercropping system

Intercropping cereals and legumes is practiced widely in the world for improving yields and economic benefits. Shorter legume crops in intercropping are shaded by taller cereals, substantially reducing legume growth and yield. Reducing shade in intercropping by shortening the plant height of cereals by seedling defoliation has been proposed as a practical approach to increase crop yields and land productivity. A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of defoliation of cereal crops at seedling stage on the growth and yield of peanut(Arachis hypogaea L.) intercropped with corn(Zea mays L.) or millet(Setaria italica L.). In comparison with non-defoliation controls, defoliation reduced final plant height by 29 cm on average for corn and 18 cm for millet. Photosynthetically active radiation on peanut in intercropping systems with corn or millet intercropping was respectively 27.0% and 22.8% higher than those in controls, significantly improving the light environment of intercropped peanut. Net photosynthetic rates of peanut were on average 25.5% higher in corn and peanut intercropping and 19.6% higher in millet and peanut intercropping than those in non-defoliation controls. Total biomass of intercropped peanut increased owing to increased root growth. Across two years, yield of peanut intercropped with corn was 27.7% and with millet 32.8% higher than those of controls. Defoliation of cereal crops did not affect corn yield but significantly decreased millet yield by 24.5%. Our results suggest that applying seedling defoliation in intercropped corn could increase peanut yield without compromising corn yield in an intercropping system.

Modelling Design of Color Graphics Books Using Visual Vocabulary Based on Children’s Color Language Preferences

Color language has important meaning for children’s picture books.Understanding children’s preferences in terms of color language will be helpful when designers model computerized picture books in order to adapt to children’s visual senses and effectively stimulate children’s interest in reading.In this study,we aimed to further explore the general characteristics of children’s preference for colors,color depth and color matching forms in picture books.For the study,256 children between the ages of three and six were selected and divided into four groups.According to the implementation needs of the children’s color preference test,these childrenwere asked to complete a series of tasks so that their choices in the tasks could subsequently be analyzed.The tasks included making the following choices:selecting their preferred colors from nine options(red,orange,yellow,green,cyan,blue,purple,black and white);selecting their preferred color brightness fromthree different color shades;and indicating their preferences in relation to complementary colors,matching colors and pure colors.The experimental results showed that children aged between three and six mainly favor red,blue and yellow,and colors with a high degree of brightness.As children grow older,boys tend to prefer blue,and girls tend to prefer pink,with red remaining the favorite color of both genders.As for complementary colors,matching colors and solid colors,three-to six-year-old children prefer solid colors.In conclusion,it seems that color language preferences in children between the ages of three and six are very similar,which could be of use when designing children’s picture books to match their visual vocabulary and psychological cognition.