Spatial arrangements and time of introducing an inte, rcrop on the productivity of component crops in maize (zea mays l) - soybean (glycine max (l.) merrill) intercropping systems

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted, at the Faculty of Agriculture farm, KNUST, during the 2009 growing season. The experiment examined the effects of seeding date on the performance of the component crops in maize - soybean intercropping systems. Sole maize and soybean treatments were used as control treatments. The maize was sown at a spacing of 80 x 40 cm and intercropped with the soybean planted at 0, 1 and 2 week after planting the maize (WAPM). The soybean was sown at a spacing of 60 x Scm. Weed control was done by band hoeing twice during the study. The compound fertilizer; NPK (IS-IS-IS) was applied to the sole maize 4 WAP at 60 kg/ha and top dressed with sulphate of ammonia at .50 kg Nlba at !l WAP.The results showed that intra- and interspecific competition in the system affected the performance of the crops with' respect to growth and yield. Intercropping systems influenced dry matter production and yield variables of the component crops. The late intercrops grew poorly producing little or no grain. Leaf area, leaf area index, crop growth rate, relative crop growth rate and the yield components of the soybean decreased with' delay in intercropping. Intercropping w._asadvantageous relative to sole cropping as land equivalent ratio values were more than unity. Above all, sowing the component crops simultaneously or not more than a week after planting the maize in 1:1 spatial arrangement combination gave the greatest maize and soybean grain yield of 2524.0 kg ha" and 2040.0 kg ha" respectively.