Determination of land productivity under maize-cowpea intercropping system in agro-ecological zone of mount Uluguru in Morogoro, Tanzania.
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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
The present study assessed the response of maize (Zea mays L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.
Walp) under sole and intercropping systems. It also determined potential of intercropping system with
respect to the proportion of land used for cultivation and the area of land saved. Results indicated that
the above-ground total biological yield in sole maize (31.8 t ha-1
) was insignificantly (p=0.055) larger
than in maize (26.7 t ha-1
) intercropped with cowpea. The yield in sole maize (6.53 t ha-1
) was
significantly (p=0.003) higher than in maize (6.47 t ha-1
) intercropped with cowpea. The mean number of
pods per plant in sole cowpea (7.7) was significantly (p=0.039) higher than in cowpea (6.8) intercropped
with maize. In addition, the mean number of seeds per pod in cowpea intercropped with maize (15.0)
was significantly (p=0.009) lower than in sole cowpea (15.43). Furthermore, cowpea seed yield in sole
cowpea (6.7 t ha-1
) was significantly (p=0.022) higher than in intercrop (6.25 t ha-1
). Further to that, the
land equivalent coefficient between maize and cowpea was 0.92 and the competitive ratio between the
two crops when intercropped was 1.07. The land saved when the two crops were intercropped was
47.9%.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Maize yield, Cowpea yield, Land equivalent ratio, Land saved