Effects of different cropping pattern on performance of maize-soybean mixture in Makurdi, Nigeria
Journal Title: Scientific Journal of Crop Science - Year 2012, Vol 1, Issue 2
Abstract
Field experiments were conducted from July to November during the 2009 and 2010 cropping seasons, at the Research Farm, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria, to evaluate the effects of different cropping pattern on performance of maize-soybean mixture and to assess the advantage of the intercropping system. The treatments consisted of four cropping patterns, which consisted of alternating one stand of maize with one stand of soybean (1sM:1sS); one stand of maize alternated with two stands of soybean (1sM:2sS); one row of maize alternated with one row of soybean (1rM:1rS); and one row of maize alternated with two rows of soybean (1rM:2rS), while the sole crops of maize and soybean constituted the fifth and sixth treatments, which also serve as controls. The six treatments were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. The results obtained showed that alternating 1sM:1sS gave the greatest intercrop yields of maize and soybean and highest land equivalent ratio (LER) values of 1.87 and 1.86 respectively, in years 2009 and 2010, indicating that the greatest productivity per unit area was achieved by growing the two crops together alternating 1sM:1sS, than by growing them separately. With these LER values, 46.5 % and 46.2 % of land were respectively saved in 2009 and 2010, which could be used for other agricultural purposes. This study showed that in a maize-soybean intercropping system, the appropriate cropping pattern would be alternating 1sM:1sS. This should therefore be recommended for Makurdi location, Nigeria.
Authors and Affiliations
M. O. Ijoyah*| Department of Crop Production, University of Agriculture, P.M.B 2373, Makurdi, Nigeria., F. T. Fanen| Department of Crop Production Technology, Akperan Orshi College of Agriculture, Yandev, Benue State, Nigeria.
Management of orobanche in field crops- a review
Abstract Broomrape (Orobanche sp) is a root holoparasitic plant devoid of chlorophyll and is entirely depending on the host for its nutritional requirements. It is causing considerable yield losses (5-100 %) in the crops...
Soybean-maize intercropping on yield and system productivity in Makurdi, Central Nigeria
Field experiments were conducted from July to November, during 2011 and 2012 cropping seasons at the Research Farm, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria, to evaluate soybean-maize intercropping on yield and system...
The response of embryo explant to tissue culture in wheat varieties
Callus induction of three wheat varietiesSardari 101, were assessed by mature embryo in MS and B5 media with threelevels of 2,4-D. Analysis of variance indicated that variety effect wassignificant on callus induction fre...
Predicting properties of cereals using artificial neural networks: A review
This communication reports the use of artificial neuralnetworks (ANN) in cereals and analyzes the major contribution of ANN in cereals(barley, corn, maze, oats, paddy, rice, rye and wheat) for prediction,forecasting, ana...
Nutritional assessment of barley, talbina and their germinated products
Talbina is a food product with high potential applications as a functional food. Talbina was prepared from two barley varieties namely: Giza126 and Giza130 by adding whole barley flour to water (1:10 w/v) and (1:5 w/v) f...