Impact of Rabi maize-legume intercropping system on growth, yield and crop competition in maize

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important cereal crop after rice and wheat which is considered a soil-exhaustive crop. The combination of soil exhaustive and replenishing crops in a cropping system is a beneficial approach where legumes can play a vital role in agricultural sustainability. As maize is a widely spaced crop, intercropping legumes can easily be adopted. Based on these facts, an experiment was conducted at P. G. Research Farm of Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha during two consecutive Rabi seasons of 2021-22 and 2022-23 where chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and field pea (Pisum sativum L.) were intercropped with hybrid maize by adopting different planting geometry. The mean data of two years revealed that sole maize uniform row (UR) being statistically at par with sole maize paired row recorded the higher plant height and dry matter accumulation of maize than intercropped maize. Sole maize also recorded higher values of yield attributes of maize, namely, number of cobs/plants, number of grains/row and number of rows/cobs which was reflected in the grain yield of maize. Due to inter-species competition, grain yield of maize was reduced in the mixed stand where uniform row sole maize registered the highest grain yield (5857 and 6101 kg/ha, respectively during both years) and it was closely followed by paired row sole maize (5789 and 6005 kg/ha, respectively). Grain and stover yields of legumes, such as chickpea and field pea were higher in pure stand because of its optimum plant stand and devoid of inter-species competition. Moreover, the benefits of the intercropping systems were pronounced in all the intercropping systems laid out in an additive series in terms of land equivalent ratio, relative crowding coefficient, area time equivalent ratio, competitive ratio, maize equivalent yield and monetary advantage. The study revealed that intercropping maize UR + chickpea (1:2) resulted in the highest values of net return and benefit-cost ratio which can be recommended for South Odisha conditions.