Abstract

Field trial was carried out at Sids Agricultural Research Station, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Beni-Sweif governorate (Lat. 29^o 12' N, Long. 31^o 01'E, 32 m a.s.l.), Egypt, during 2017 and 2018 summer seasons to study the interaction between three nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates (100, 120 and 140 Kg N fed^-1) and three yellow maize hybrids (SC 176, TWC 353 and TWC  360) on maize-cowpea association. Treatments were randomly assigned in a split-plot design with three replications. The main plots were devoted to N fertilizer rates. However, the sub-plots were allocated to hybrids of yellow maize. Sole culture plots of both maize and cowpea were included in each replicate for competitive relationships and economic evaluation essays. The highest values of maize grain yield (22.86 and 23.00 ard fed^-1) were recorded for yellow maize hybrid SC 176 when the combination received 140 kg N fed^-1 whereas the lowest values were recorded for yellow maize hybrid TWC 353 when the combination received 100 kg N fed^-1 while the highest values cowpea fresh forage yield (18.75 and 15.59 ton fed^-1) were recorded for cowpea intercropped with yellow maize hybrid SC 176 when the combination received 140 kg N fed^-1 whereas the lowest values were recorded for cowpea intercropped with yellow maize hybrid TWC 360 when the combination received 100 kg N fed^-1 in first and second seasons, respectively. The aggressivity value of maize was positive for all treatments indicating that maize was dominant component whereas the aggressivity value of cowpea was negative for all treatments indicating that cowpea was dominated component in the present study. Results also revealed that intercropping cowpea cv. Cream7 with yellow maize hybrid SC 176 under rate of 140 kg N fed^-1 for the combination resulted in maximum values of LER estimated to 1.61 and 1.62, gross income of LE 16,598 and 15,717 and net return of LE 8,301 and 7,420 in first and second seasons, respectively. The study recommends the importance of selecting maize variety (the over-story crop), as short hybrid with less leaf area index, which is preferred to provide a better chance for the growth of cowpea (the under-story crop) when planting cowpea with 100% of its sole culture on the other side of maize rows sown at 100% of its density in sole culture in order to achieve the maximum land equivalent ratio, less competition between both crops, and largest income and net return for farmer.

Keywords: Zea mays L.; Vigna unguiculata L.; Land Equivalent Ratio; Farmer's Benefit

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Citation

Citation: Amr S Shams and Mohamed M Lamlom. “Intercropping Cowpea with Some Yellow Maize Hybrids Under Different Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates”.Acta Scientific Agriculture 4.12 (2020): 23-34.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Amr S Shams and Mohamed M Lamlom. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.