Abstract: To screen the high-efficiency mode and excellent variety combination suitable for soybean-maize strip compound planting in the Jianghan Plain, so as to alleviate the land competition between grain and soybean crops, a split-plot field experiment was conducted in Gong’an County, Hubei Province in 2024. Three planting patterns were arranged in the main plots: M1 (4 rows of maize + 7 rows of soybean, with a strip width of 480 cm), M2 (4 rows of maize + 6 rows of soybean, with a strip width of 450 cm), and M3 (2 rows of maize + 4 rows of soybean, with a strip width of 250 cm). Nine maize-soybean variety combinations were assigned to the subplots. The results showed that the main effects of planting pattern and variety combination on soybean yield and system benefit indexes were significant (P<0.05) or extremely significant (P<0.01), and the interaction between the two was not significant (P>0.05). The main effect analysis showed that the soybean yield, total output value, net profit and land equivalent ratio of M1 were significantly better than those of M2 and M3, and its net profit was more than twice that of maize or soybean monoculture. The combination of maize variety Kangnongyu 8009 and soybean varieties Zhongdou 63 or Nannong 60 had better comprehensive performance in all combinations, and its system yield, total output value and land equivalent ratio were significantly higher than those of most other combinations. Based on comprehensive comparison of all treatments, pattern M1 combined with ‘Kangnongyu 8009 + Zhongdou 63’ or ‘Kangnongyu 8009 + Nannong 60’ performed optimally, with total output values reaching 24 211 yuan/hm² and 24 209 yuan/hm², respectively. In addition, this pattern showed good adaptability to mechanized operation. Therefore, these two combinations are recommended as the dominant models for soybean-maize strip intercropping in the Jianghan Plain region.

Key words: soybean[Glycine max(Linn.) Merr.], maize (Zea mays L.), strip intercropping pattern, variety screening, interaction effect, land equivalent ratio