Effect of Different Interplanting Patterns on Yield and Occurrence of Diseases and Insect Pests in Young Camellia oleifera

In order to improve the productivity and ecological benefits of Camellia oleifera forest land and reduce the occurrence of diseases and insect pest. The effects of 3 different interplanting patterns on the fruit set percentage, yield and occurrence of diseases and insect pests in Camellia oleifera forest were studied by adopting randomized block test design in this study. The results showed that the very significant effects of fruit setting rate of Camellia oleifera was found in all interplanting patterns. For the variety of Huajun, the fruiting rate in intercropped patterns followed the order of Coreopsis drummondii > Cosmos bipinnatatus > Paspalum notatum, which was 1.59, 1.47 and 1.23 times greater than control on March 5, and was 2.13, 2.10, and 1.56 times greater than control treatment on October 17, respectively. The similar pattern of fruiting rate for the 3 intercropping systems was found for the variety of Xianglin 210. The fruiting rate was 1.41, 1.43 and 1.40 times greater than control treatment on March 5, and was 1.61, 1.68 and 1.66 times greater than control on October 17, respectively. However, no significant difference for the fruit setting rate was found among 3 intercropping systems. All interplanting patterns have the very significant effect on the yield of young Camellia oleifera. The highest yield was obtained from the interplanting Paspalum notatum, and the fruit yield was up to 4.23 kg and 6.00 kg per plant in Huajin and Xianglin 210, which was 1.71 and 1.45 times of the control, respectively. Compared with the control, 3 interplanting patterns very significantly reduce the occurrence of diseases and insect pests in Camellia oleifera, and the disease index decreased by 36.1%, 44.5% and 38.9%, respectively. The lowest disease index was found in the interplanting with Coreopsis drummondii. Similarly, the pest index decreased by 54.5%, 44.4% and 55.0%, respectively, and the lowest pest index was present in interplanting with Cosmos bipinnatatus.