STUDIES ON INTERCROPPING OF LEGUMES WITH MAIZE IN SHIWALIK FOOTHILL REGION

Abstract

AN EXPERIMENT WAS CONDUCTED FOR THREE YEARS ( 1982-85) TO FIND OUT YIELD , TOTAL PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC RETURNS AND RESIDUAL EFFECT OF GROWING GREEENGRAM , BLACKGRAM, SOYABEAN AND GUAR AS INTERCROPS WITH MAIZE AT 90cm SPACING UNDER RAINFED CONDITION. MAIZE YIELD INCREASED BY 32,31 AND 16% WITH GREENGRAM , BLACKGRAM AND SOYABEAN , RESPECTIVELY AS INTERCROPS OVER PURE MAIZE. GUAR WITH TWO ROWS REDUCED MAIZE YIELD. MAIZE YIELD WAS REDUCED WHEN THE NUMBER OF ROWS OF INTERCROPS WAS INCREASED FROM ONE TO TWO. AMONGST THE INTERCROPS , GUAR WITH TWO ROWS RECORDED MEAN MAXIMUM YIELD (864kg/ha) . YIELD OF ALL THE INTERCROPS INCREASED WITH THE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF ROWS FROM ONE TO TWO. HIGHEST MEAN MAIZE (3482 kg/ha) AND MEAN NET RETURNS ( RS 3698 /ha) WERE OBTAINED WITH MAIZE PLUS TWO ROWS OF GUAR AS INTERCROP. SOLE CROP OF MAIZE GAVE CONSISTENTLY LOWER NET RETURNS. RESIDUAL EFFECT OF INTERCROPS WAS REFLECTED IN HIGHER WHEAT YIELD RANGING FROM 7 TO 23%.