Year: 2020 | Month: March | Volume 13 | Issue 1
Yield Attributes, Yield, Competitive Ability and Economics of Summer Maize-Legume Intercropping System
DOI:10.30954/0974-1712.1.2020.16
Abstract:
Maize (Zea mays L.), the queen of cereals, is planted with wide spacing and so it offers the scope of intercropping. Considering the benefits of cereal-legume association, an experiment on maize-legume intercropping system was conducted during summer season of 2018 at Bagusala Farm of M. S. Swaminathan School of Agriculture, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Gajapati district, Odisha. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design and the treatments were comprised of ten cropping systems, namely, T1: sole maize, T2: sole green gram (Vigna radiata L.), T3: sole groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), T4: sole black gram (Vigna mungo L.), T5: maize + greengram (2:1), T6: maize + groundnut (2:1), T7: maize + blackgram (2:1), T8: maize + greengram (2:2), T9: maize + groundnut (2:2) and T10 maize +black gram (2:2). Paired row sowing of hybrid maize was done with a spacing of 80 cm/30 cm × 25 cm in sole maize. Pure stand of legumes i.e. green gram, groundnut and black gram were sown with 30 cm × 10 cm spacing. As per the treatments, single and double row of intercrops were taken in between two pairs of maize. The result indicated that intercropped legumes improved the yield components of maize and offered some bonus yield. The maximum maize grain yield (5669 kgha-1) was noted with sole maize, however, maize equivalent yield of 7609kg ha-1 was recorded with maize + groundnut (2:2) and it was followed by maize + black gram with 2:2 ratio (6902 kg ha-1). In expression of the competition functions, maize + groundnut (2:2) recorded the highest values of area time equivalent ratio (1.70), relative yield total (1.47) and monetary advantage (` 42002 kg ha-1). The intercropping combination of maize + groundnut (2:2) recorded the highest net return (` 47954 ha-1), with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.00, but by the treatment maize + black gram with 2:2 ratio registered greater B:C ratio (1.11) with net return of ` 45499 ha-1.
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