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Intercropping of Sorghum or Maize with Cowpeas or Common Beans under Two Fertility Regimes in Northeastern Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

M. A. Faris
Affiliation:
Agriculture Research Institute of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
H. A. Burity
Affiliation:
Agriculture Research Institute of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
O. V. Dos Reis
Affiliation:
Agriculture Research Institute of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
R. C. Mafra
Affiliation:
Agriculture Research Institute of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

Summary

Experiments in Brazil have shown that a sorghum-pulse (cowpea or common bean) intercrop system yielded more grain than the monocrop system and produced a Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) greater than 1.00 even though rainfall was limited. Sorghum competed less than maize with the associated pulse when Competitive Ratios (CR) were considered. In cowpeas, CR values were correlated positively with the number of pods and seeds plant−1. The two crops in the intercrop systems were responsive to fertilizer application. Thus, improved management (i.e. fertilizer usage) was appropriate without the loss of the advantageous effects realized from intercropping.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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References

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