Effect of intercropping maize (Zea mays L.) with cow pea (Vigna unguiculata L.) on green forage yield and quality evaluation.

摘要

In this study effect of different planting ratios and harvest time of intercropping maize and cowpea on economical and biological yield and quality of maize forage (Zea mays L.) was evaluated in the Department of Agronomy, University of Zabol, during 2007. The planting ratios of maize to bean was 100:100, 50:100, 100:50, 25:75, 75:25, 50:50, 0:100 and 100:0, respectively. The intercropped of maize and bean in different planting ratio significantly affected the quantitative and qualitative characters of the forage. The highest yield of green fodder (65.7 t ha-1) was obtained by sowing the crops in ratio of 100:100. The highest grain yield (9.0 t ha-1) for maize was recorded from 75+25% ratio, maize and cowpea and the highest grain yield for cowpea (3.9 t ha-1) was recorded from 50+100% ratio, maize and cowpea, respectively. The highest crude protein (19.65%) was produced by the cowpea sole cropping and the lowest from the maize plots sole cropping (12.11%). The highest land equivalent ratio (2.26) was obtained by sowing the crops in ratio of 100:100 and the highest crude protein was obtained by harvest time in milky stage (15.2%).