Influence of Maize-Legume Intercropping System on Growth and Productivity of Crops

Intercropping has multifaceted benefits such as yield enhancement, more efficient use of resource, resource conservation, soil health improvement, crop diversification and superior ecosystem services and agricultural sustainability.Maize (Zea mays L.), the queen of cereals, is planted with wide row spacing and so it offers the scope of intercropping.Considering the benefits of cereal-legume association, an experiment on maize-legume intercropping system was conducted during summer season of 2018 at Bagusala Farm Centurion University of Technology and Management, Gajapati district, Odisha.The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design and the treatments were comprised of ten cropping systems.Paired row sowing of hybrid maize was done with a spacing of 80 cm/30 cm × 25 cm in sole maize.Pure stand of legumes, i.e., green gram, groundnut and black gram were sown with 30 cm × 10 cm spacing.As per the treatments, legumes were sown in between two pairs of maize.The data revealed that sole maize produced taller plants than intercropped maize in sole of the treatments.Similarly, more dry matter accumulation was noted with sole maize compared to intercropped maize, but from a unit area maize + groundnut (2:2) produced significantly more dry matter than pure stand of maize.Sole maize yielded more than intercropped maize, however, extra yield obtained in intercropping black gram and groundnut (2:2) was quite satisfactory that indicated advantage of intercropping system.