SHWETA, KAVITA*, NEELAM, MEENA SEHWAG, SATPAL, KAMLA MALIK AND BISHAN SINGH
Department of Agronomy,
CCS Haryana Agricultural University Hisar-125004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : kavita.yadav@hau.ac.in)
(Received : 14 July 2022; Accepted : 5 August 2022)
SUMMARY
A field experiment was conducted at CCS HAU, Hisar in randomized block design with thirteen treatments and replicated thrice to evaluate the efficiency of maize based intercropping systems by
taking green gram, urdbean, groundnut and okra in two different proportions (planting geometries). Intercropping of maize with different crops (groundnut, urdbean, okra, green gram) was observed more profitable in terms of Land equivalent ratio (LER) as compared to sole planting. Okra crop was found most suitable and compatible intercrop for intercropping in maize. In terms of planting geometries tested for intercropping, paired row planting of maize at 45:60 cm along with two rows of intercropping between two pairs was found more efficient and profitable as compared to 1:1 row pattern of maize +intercrop. Among all the intercropping treatments, paired row maize (45:60 cm)+ two rows of okra recorded higher LER (1.54) and maize equivalent yield (10324 kg/ha) which were 54.0 and 69.7 percent higher than sole maize crop, respectively. Maize seed yield was observed highest with green gram intercropping in both paired row planting and 1 : 1 planting geometry while, equivalent yield was observed maximum with okra based intercropping system in both planting geometry.
Key words: Maize, intercropping, LER, MEY