Optimizing Wheat–Pea Intercropping for Sustainable Forage Production: Productivity, Land-Use Efficiency, and Economic Evaluation

Mixture ratio and growth stage are important management factors influencing forage productivity and quality in wheat–pea intercropping. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate five wheat–pea mixture ratios and three pea flowering stages under rainfed Mediterranean conditions. Five seeding ratios (100W, 75W+25P, 50W+50P, 25W+75P, and 100P; W = wheat, P = pea) and three growth stages (early flowering, 50% flowering, and full flowering) were evaluated. Plant height, forage and dry matter yields, crude protein, land equivalent ratio (LER), and economic performance were evaluated. Year-specific responses were observed for most yield traits. In 2024–25, the highest total forage yield (49.5 t ha−1) was obtained from 50W+50P at 50% flowering, whereas the highest total dry matter yield (15.9 t ha−1) and total LER (1.63) were recorded for the same mixture at full flowering. Across the two years, crude protein declined with maturity, ranging from 12.9% to 4.0%. Based on the two-year average economic analysis, 50W+50P harvested at full flowering produced the highest net income (US$ 391.36 da−1) and benefit–cost ratio (5.31). Findings highlight the joint management of mixture ratio and growth stage for sustainable forage production.