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The Effects on Soil Temperature and Moisture Content and Crop Growth and Yield of Intercropping Maize with Melon (Colocynthis vulgaris)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

F. O. Olasantan
F. O. Olasantan
Affiliation:
Agronomy Department, School of Agricultural Education, College of Education, Ila-Orangun, Nigeria
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Summary

The effects of various intercropping patterns of maize and melon on soil temperature and moisture content and crop growth and yield were compared in field trials over a two year period. Intercropping raised soil temperature in the upper 10 cm at 0600 h and reduced it at 1000, 1400 and 1800 h, and also increased soil moisture content by about 30%, compared with maize sole cropping. Melon biomass and seed yields were reduced by intercropping but maize growth characters were unaffected. However, the reduction in melon yields was less when grown with maize in widely spaced rows. Maize intercropped with melon in alternate pairs of rows (2:2) gave the best land equivalent ratio (LER).

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 67 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

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