ISSN 2348-1218 (print) International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Innovations ISSN 2348-1226 (online) Vol. 8, Issue 4, pp: (87-91), Month: October - December 2020, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
GROWTH AND YIELD OF GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogea (L.)) AND MAIZE (Zea mays (L.)) AS INFLUENCED BY INTERCROP RATIO IN YOLA, ADAMAWA STATE. Teme, G. T. and Talaka, A. 1
Department of Crop Production and Horticulture, MAUTECH, Yola, Adamawa State
2
Department of Crop Production Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Bali, Taraba State
Abstract: Field experiments were conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Crop Production and Horticulture, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola during the 2009 and 2010 raining seasons to study the effects of intercropping ratio on the growth and yield of groundnut- maize inter-cropped. Treatments consisted of four intercropping ratio (1:1, 2:1, 2:2, and 3:2) while 1:1 is one row of groundnut alternated with one row of maize, 2:1 is two rows of groundnut alternated with one row of maize, 2:2 is two rows of groundnut alternated with two rows of maize and 3:2 is three rows of groundnut alternated with two rows of maize arranged in a split plot design and replicated three times. Parameters measured includes: number of branches and number of leaves/plant, plant height, stem and cob diameter, number of pods/plant, 100 pods and seed weight/plot, weight of ears/plot, 100 grain weight/plot and seed and grain yield/hectare, forage and stover weight/plot, were measured. The result of the study show that there were significant differences among the intercropping ratio on growth parameters measured. Stem diameter and bunch height shows significant influence due to intercropping pattern. Yield parameters such as number of pods/plant and cob diameter were significant at p≤0.01 by intercropping ratio. Based on the result obtained it shows that groundnut – maize intercropped ratio of 2:2 and 3:2 gave the optimum yield in the two years study in Yola. Farmers in Yola and its environs are therefore advised to adopt 2:2 and 3:2 groundnut – maize intercropped ratio for optimum pod, seeds and grains yield of groundnut and maize. Keywords: Growth, yield, intercrop and ratio.
I. INTRODUCTION Groundnut is a short herbaceous annual that produces its pods inside the soil. Groundnut was brought to West Africa through the slave trade, which is believed to originate from South America (Bababe, 1991). Nutritionally, groundnut have high content of edible oil (50%) and protein (25%) makes it a popular human food, it is consumed either as shell nut or as oil. After pressing of the kernel, groundnut can be used as an enriching ingredient in a wide range of cooked dishes (Freeman et al., 1999). Groundnut has immensely contributed to the development of Nigeria up to 1969 before the oil boom of the early 1970’s resulted in near complete neglect of the agricultural sector (Parr, 1983). Nigeria is third largest exporter of groundnut in the world after India and China (Raw Materials Research and Development Council, 2004), Maize is a tall to medium short grass plant with a strong solid stem carry large narrow leaves in an alternate form. It is believed to have originated from Mexico or Central America. Maize is a plant which can be grown on wide variety of soil ranging from fairly course loam and a very diverse kinds of soil of heavy clay (Okigbo, 2000). Maize is the most important cereal in the world (Encyclopedia, 2006) which is used mainly as food for human, feed for livestock and raw materials for industries (FAO, 2004)
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