EVALUATION OF DIRECT-SEEDED UPLAND RICE-BASED INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS UNDER STRIP PLANTING GEOMETRY

In a field study the biological efficiency of intercropping in direct-seeded upland rice was determined at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad for two consecutive years. The intercropping systems comprised rice alone, rice + maize, rice + sesbania, rice + mungbean and rice + pigeonpea. The rice was seeded in 75cm spaced 4 row strips (15/75 cm) while the intercrops as forage were seeded on the vacant spaces between the rice strips. The rice grain yield was decreased to a significant level by the forage intercrops compared to monocropped rice which varied from 10.94 to 25.87 %, with the maximum (25.87 %) by sesbania followed by pigeon pea (16.67) against the minimum (10.94 %) by maize intercrop. In terms of total rice grain yield equivalent (TRGYE), the highest TRGYE (6.45 tha) was recorded for rice + forage maize intercropping system followed by rice + cowpea (5.08 t ha ) and rice + sesbania (4.92 t ha) against the minimum (4.02 tha ) for monocropped rice clearly indicating yield advantages of intercropping over monocropping of rice. By contrast, the grain quality of rice was not affected significantly by different intercrops.