Growth, productivity and economics of maize as influenced by maize-legume intercropping system ​

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) cultivation is catching up in India to fulfil the future demand. Odisha is a non-traditional state for maize cultivation; however, it has been intensified in the state during last one and half decades. As maize is a wide spaced crop, the inter row space allows to grow the short statured crops such as legumes. Maize - legume intercropping system is one of the most important intercropping systems followed worldwide. In this regard, a field experiment on paired row maize intercropping with legumes, namely, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) and green gram (Vigna radiata L.) was carried out at Agronomy Research Farm of the Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha during rabi season of 2020. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). There were nine treatments with pure stands of maize, groundnut and green gram and their mixed stand which were replicated thrice. The results revealed that the plant height at harvest and number of leaves of maize at 90 days after sowing (DAS) did not differ by cropping systems, whereas sole maize resulted in significantly higher dry matter production at all the growth stages and the same treatment registered significantly more leaf are index at 60 DAS. The yield attributes such as number of cobs/plant, cob length, number of rows/cob, number of grains/row, 100 grain weight and grain weight/cob remained on par, but number of grains/cob and grain weight per plant were significantly higher with sole maize than intercropped maize. The treatment comprised of maize + groundnut (2:3) intercropping system registered the highest net returns of Rs. 83590/ha. The findings suggested that in south Odisha conditions, intercropping maize + groundnut (2:3) can be adopted for better net return and agricultural sustainability compared to sole maize cultivation.