Improving productivity and water use efficiency by intercropping cactus and millet

Abstract The adoption of resilient strategies is crucial for improving agricultural production and optimizing water resources, especially in arid and semi‐arid areas. The aim of this study was to analyse the productivity, evapotranspiration (ET) and water use efficiency (WUE) in the production systems of forage cactus and millet under different cropping systems. The experimental design was randomized blocks, with six treatments and four replications. The treatments corresponded to the cropping systems: single cactus, single millet and a cactus–millet intercrop, with and without mulching. The soil moisture was monitored over time. ET was measured using the soil water balance. WUE was calculated for each cropping system. There was no difference in ET between production systems. WUE was significantly higher in the cactus–millet intercrops, with and without mulching (2.47 and 2.31 kg m −3 , respectively). The use of 17.6 Mg ha −1 mulch under both cropping systems did not significantly reduce the ET; however, the gains in productivity afforded by intercropping the cactus and millet increased the WUE of the production system. It is concluded that adoption of the cactus–millet intercropping system can be employed using the same irrigation depth as adopted under the single‐cactus system, with the aim of optimizing water resources in dry areas.