Effect of intercropping system on the growth and yield of baby corn (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

A study was conducted on the possibility of growing vegetables (such as fenugreek, radish and Amaranthus) in baby corn and to investigate the impact of intercropping and competition indices of the intercropping systems. Therefore, this experiment was conducted in farmer’s field of Nambal village, Mancherial district, Telangana during the year of 2022-23 to assess the performance of baby corn intercropping with different vegetable crops. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with 10 treatments comprising baby corn as main crop along with radish, fenugreek and Amaranthus as intercrops and control (sole baby corn) replicated thrice. The results of the research revealed that sole baby corn registered the maximum plant height (172.39 cm), number of leaves (14.68), leaf area (639.75 cm2), leaf area index (6.26) and dry matter production (9.5 t/ha) which were at par with baby corn + fenugreek intercropping system. The yield parameters viz. number of cobs per plant (3.07), cob length (16.21 cm), cob girth (6.82 cm) and individual cob weight (76.72 g), cob yield g/plant (166.23 g) cob yield t/ha (7.3 t/ha) and green fodder yield (23.2 t/ha) were consistently greater in baby corn + fenugreek and at par with sole baby corn intercropping system.