Time of introducing component crop influences productivity of intercropping system

M O Iwuagwu,C O Muoneke,D A Okpara

doi:10.4314/gjas.v55i2.2

Abstract

Field experiment was conducted at National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Mbato Sub-station, Okigwe, Imo State, South-eastern Nigeria in the 2012 and 2013 cropping seasons to establish the most appropriate time to introduce component crops in cocoyam/cowpea mixture. Five different planting schemes (two and four weeks before, two and four weeks after and same day) and two cowpea genotypes (climbing Akidienu and erect IT97K-499-35) were used. The component crops were grown in monocultures to assess the productivity of the systems. The experimental design used was a completely randomized design with three replicates. Growth and yield of cocoyam and the cowpea genotypes increased significantly (P<0.05) when either of the component crops was planted earlier than the other. Intercropping reduced significantly (P<0.05) cocoyam yield by 0.7 − 74% in IT97K-499-35 and 22 − 80% in Akidienu. Sowing the cowpea genotypes the same day or before cocoyam resulted in over-yielding of cowpea, whereas sowing Akidienu and IT97K-499-35 after cocoyam caused pod yield reductions of 64% − 73% and 32% − 59% on average, respectively. Cocoyam planted two weeks before IT97K-499-35 produced more satisfactory yields of the intercrops than the other planting schedules with LER, LEC and ATER of 2.15, 1.03 and 1.57, respectively.

Highlights

In Nigeria, intercropping, the practice of growing two or more crops together is a popular cropping system among small-scale farmers due to scarcity of land, resulting from population explosion
The reduction in the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer will in turn reduce water pollution from runoff/leaching of nitrogen into water bodies
In 2013, the number of leaves produced by cocoyam when intercropped with climbing Akidienu irrespective of the planting scheme was statistically similar except at one MAP where cocoyam planted four weeks before the climbing Akidienu produced significantly higher number of leaves than when it was planted four weeks after

Summary

Introduction

In Nigeria, intercropping, the practice of growing two or more crops together is a popular cropping system among small-scale farmers due to scarcity of land, resulting from population explosion. It is a strategy adopted for equitable and judicious utilization of land resources and farming inputs, including labour so as to get increased total productivity per unit area (Marer et al, 2007). Intercropping helps in the control of weeds, insects, and diseases It increases the length of production cycles, improves seed quality and minimizes the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers through the use of legumes as components of intercrop mixture (Dhima et al, 2007; Zhu et al, 2010). Several studies on intercropping have shown that intercrop may give higher and more stable yield than when any of the components

Results

Discussion

Conclusion