Advantage of maize (Zea mays)-based intercropping system to different nutrient- management practices

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during (pre-kharif) (FebruaryMay) seasons of 2014 and 2015 at the Instruc- tional Farm, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, to evaluate the effect of maize (Zea mays L.) intercropped with cowpea [Vigna unguiculata L.) and nutrient-management practices on yield attributes, yield, nutrient uptake and competition indices. Among the cropping system, sole crop resulted in the highest yield attributes, grain yield (3,913 kg/ha), stover yield (6,565 kg/ha), harvest index (37.21%), uptake of nitrogen (101.36 kg/ha), phosphorus (19.80 kg/ha) and potassium (110.90 kg/ha). However, growing of maize as an intercrop with cowpea in a 2 : 2 row ratio resulted in the highest grain yield (3,249 kg/ha), stover yield (5,707 kg/ha) and harvest index (36.19%) than 2 : 4 row ratio combination. Among the nutrient-management practices, 75% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) + phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) + Azotobacter + vermicompost (VC) @ 5.0 t/ha resulted in the highest yield attributes, grain yield (3,684 kg/ha), stover yield (6,207 kg/ha), harvest index (37.14%) and NPK uptake. However, productivity system in terms of maize-equivalent yield (MEY), land-equivalent ratio (LER), relative crowding coeffi- cient (RCC), competition index (CI), aggressivity, competition ratio (CR), land-equivalent coefficient (LEC), area time-equivalent ratio (ATER) and monetary advantage was found to be higher in 2 : 2 row ratio, followed by 2 : 4 row ratio combination. Thus, maize intercrop with cowpea in 2 : 2 row ratio combination and supplied with 75% RDF + PSB + Azotobacter + vermicompost (VC) @ 5.0 t/ha (N ) improved the productivity of sole crop as well as 3 intercrop system.