Below-Ground Competition in a Maize/Groundnut Intercropping System as Affected by the Rooting Soil Layer

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to compare the below-ground competition between the intercropped maize (Zea mays L.) and two groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) cultivars regarding the rooting soil layer. Three rows of each cultivar of groundnut (cvs. X-14 and Red Spanish) were planted in between two rows of maize (cv. Badra) with inter-row spacing of 30 cm and intra-row spacing of 15 cm. Aluminium sheets, 10 cm in height, were placed as a root barrier between the maize and groundnut rows at three depths, i.e., 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm from the soil surface. In the control plot, the soil was trenched and refilled without the aluminium partitions. The ear and total biomass yield of the maize intercropped with X-14 with the root barrier at 0-10 cm depth, were significantly larger than those with the root barriers at the depths of 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm and the control. The yield (crop or total biomass) of the maize intercropped with Red Spanish was not significantly affected by the root barrier. In conclusion, groundnut cultivar X-14 was more suitable for intercropping with maize than Red Spanish, probably due to the differences in the rooting properties in the top soil layer.