African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (16), pp. 1885-1887, 20 August 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Short Communication

Intercropping soybean and maize in a derived savanna ecology

J. A. RAJI

Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Obafemi Awolowo University, P. M. B. 5029, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Nigeria. E-mail: dr_raji@excite.com.

Accepted 23 April, 2007

Compared to sole soybean, intercropping soybean and maize on flat and ridge reduced yields by 1.0 – 29.1% and 29.4 - 40.2% respectively. In maize, intercropping on flat and ridge reduced yields by 13.2 - 25.2% and 24.8 - 43.5% respectively. Planting sole soybean on ridge enhanced mean yield by 18.6% as compared to the sole crop yield on flat. Conversely, planting sole maize on flat enhanced grain yield by 2.8%. Intercropping soybean and maize on flat resulted in optimum yields. The maximum combined intercrop revenue from maize and soybean was from inter + intra-row planting arrangement on flat. However, it was less than total revenue from sole soybean on ridge by 5.88%.

Key words: Intercropping, flat, ridge, yield, soybean, maize.