Abstract
Cereal-legume intercropping is common in Ethiopia but intercropping of common bean and lupine with maize is a recent practice in maize based cropping system of Northwestern Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to determine the appropriate legume species and planting arrangement for higher productivity and profitability of the cropping system. Field experiments were conducted at two sites in Northwestern Ethiopia during the 2012 and 2013 main cropping seasons. Intercropping of common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), narrow-leaf lupine ( Lupinus angustifolius L.), and white lupine ( Lupinus albus L.) with maize ( Zea mays L.) were conducted under two intercrop planting arrangements (IPA), single row of legume in between maize rows and paired rows of legume in between paired rows of maize and sole cropping of maize as check treatment in randomized complete block design with three replications. Results indicated that maize grain yield was 16% and 13% more on maize-narrow leaf lupine intercropping with paired and single row IPA, respectively, relative to sole crop maize. Maize equivalent yield and land equivalent ratio were on average 18% and 42%, respectively, higher with intercropping compared to sole cropping. Maize-bean with single and paired row IPA, and the maize-narrow leaf lupine with the paired row IPA produced 28%, 23%, and 20% more maize equivalent yield compared to sole crop maize, respectively. The associated increases in net return were 22%, 17%, and 15%. The results indicated enhanced productivity and economic return of maize-common bean intercropping, which could be scaled up for increasing household food security. Keywords : Cropping system, Economic return, Maize equivalent yield, Land equivalent ratio, Paired row, Single row.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays) is one of the most important staple food crops and a target of most food security programs in Ethiopia (CSA, 2015)
Production of different legumes including common bean, white lupine and narrow leaf lupine as sole crop is expanding in northwestern Ethiopia where narrow leaf lupine is a recent introduction
Maize leaf area index (LAI), plant height, thousand kernel weight (TKW), harvest index (HI) and grain yield were significantly affected by the growing seasons
Summary
Maize (Zea mays) is one of the most important staple food crops and a target of most food security programs in Ethiopia (CSA, 2015). Maize-legume intercropping can result in improved soil nutrient and water use, increased productivity, and greater yield stability with reduced risk of crop failure while enabling healthier diets (Elodie et al, 2010; Meighen and Marney, 2012). These advantages are important in low-input, risk vulnerable, and land scarce semi-subsistence farming systems (RezaeiChianeh et al, 2011). Intercropping offers greater financial stability than sole cropping and is practiced by labor-intensive smallholder farms (Lithourgidis et al, 2011). Intercropping can be a component of highly productive, sustainable and environmentally friendly cropping systems (Crew and Peoples, 2004)
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