Morphological Responses of Edamame Soybean and Sweet Corn Planted in Intercropping with Combinations of Plant Populations on Three Varieties of Sweet Corn

Abstract

The intercropping pattern is a plant cultivation system that is very suitable for increasing productivity on marginal dry land with relatively low fertility levels. The regulation of plant population density and the selection of appropriate varieties can minimize the negative influence of competition between sweet corn and edamame soybeans to optimize the growth of both plants. The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the best plant population density in the intercropping pattern of sweet corn and edamame soybean (2) determine the best varieties in the intercropping pattern of sweet corn and edamame soybean and (3) determine the combination of plant population density and the best crop varieties in the intercropping pattern. The treatments were arranged in a factorial consisting of 2 factors. The first factor was the population density of edamame soybeans which consisted of three levels: 1 row of edamame soybeans between rows of sweet corn (B1), 2 rows of edamame soybeans between rows of sweet corn (B2), and 3 rows of edamame soybeans between rows of sweet corn (B3). The second factor is three sweet corn varieties, namely the Secada variety (V1), the Exotic variety (V2), and the Golden Sweet variety so that there are nine treatment combinations. The results showed that (1) the plant population density model of 2 rows of edamame between rows of sweet corn and sweet corn varieties Secada can produce the best sweet corn growth by increasing the wet weight of sweet corn, (2) sweet corn varieties that have the most suitable for intercropping in this research model is the Secada variety, based on plant height, the number of leaves, stem diameter, and plant wet weight, (3) edamame soybean produces relatively the same morphological growth in all population density models and sweet corn varieties used.