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Intercropping is considered a promising system for boosting crop productivity. However, intercropping usually requires higher inputs of resources that emit more CO 2 . It is unclear whether an improved agricultural pattern could relieve this issue and enhance agricultural sustainability in an arid irrigation area. A field experiment using a well-designed agricultural practice was carried out in northwest China; reduced tillage, coupled with wheat straw residue retention measures, was integrated with a strip intercropping pattern. We determined the crop productivity, water use, economic benefits, and carbon emissions (CEs). The wheat-maize intercropping coupled with straw covering (i.e., NTSI treatment), boosted grain yield by 27–38% and 153–160% more than the conventional monoculture of maize and wheat, respectively, and it also increased by 9.9–11.9% over the conventional intercropping treatment. Similarly, this pattern also improved the water use efficiency by 15.4–22.4% in comparison with the conventional monoculture of maize by 45.7–48.3% in comparison with the conventional monoculture of wheat and by 14.7–15.9% in comparison with the conventional intercropping treatment. Meanwhile, NTSI treatment caused 7.4–13.7% and 37.0–47.7% greater solar energy use efficiency than the conventional monoculture of maize and wheat, respectively. Furthermore, the NTSI treatment had a higher net return (NR) by 54–71% and 281–338% and a higher benefit per cubic meter of water (BPW) by 35–51% and 119–147% more than the conventional monoculture of maize and wheat, respectively. Similarly, it increased the NR and BPW by 8–14% and 14–16% in comparison with the conventional intercropping treatment, respectively. An additional feature of the NTSI treatment is that it reduced CEs by 13.4–23.8% and 7.3–17.5% while improving CE efficiency by 62.6–66.9% and 23.2–33.2% more than the conventional monoculture maize and intercropping treatments, respectively. We can draw a conclusion that intercropping maize and wheat, with a straw covering soil surface, can be used to enhance crop production and NRs while effectively lowering CO 2  emissions in arid oasis irrigation region.

Wheat-Maize Intercropping With Reduced Tillage and Straw Retention: A Step Towards Enhancing Economic and Environmental Benefits in Arid Areas