Agronomic and Carbon Productivity of Corn (Zea Mays Linn.) and Corn-Legume Intercropping Under Conservation Agriculture Practice System (Caps)

Abstract

Carbon productivity is important in plant life and corn is important for human consumption throughout the world. A study was conducted to determine the agronomic and carbon productivity of corn and corn legumes under the conservation agriculture practice system. Agriculture practice system using a Randomize Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three treatments and replicated four times. The objective of the study was to determine the agronomic characteristics of corn intercrop with soybean and cowpea; to determine the carbon productivity of corn and legumes, and to evaluate the total productivity of corn-legumes in intercropping. The result revealed that among the agronomic parameters plant height, harvest index, partitioning coefficient, and total biomass the statistical analysis showed significant differences among treatment means, while 50 % days to flower analysis of variance showed no significant differences among treatments. In the yield parameters including shelling, percentage had shown significant differences among treatments but yield showed no significant difference they are not comparable to each other. The carbon productivity including total dry matter yield t/ha and carbon productivity t/ha, based on the result on carbon productivity Treatment 3 corn intercropped with cowpea obtained a high amount of carbon with (1.63). Thus, it recommended that corn intercropped with cowpea is better to determine the level of carbon productivity under the conservation agriculture practice system.