Evaluation of sweet corn (Zea mays convar. Saccharata L.) based intercroppingsystems with vegetable legumes during winter season

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Main Agricultural Research Station, UAS, Dharwad during rabi 2020-21 tostudy the intercropping of sweet corn with vegetable legumes. It was laid out in randomized complete block design with10 treatments replicated thrice. The treatments consisted of sweet corn intercropping with field bean, green pea and frenchbean at 1:1 and 2:2 row proportion compared with their sole cropping for their productivity and profitability. Sole sweetcorn recorded significantly higher cob yield with husk (162.2 q ha-1) and without husk (131.3 q ha-1) compared to its’ yieldin intercropping systems in 2:2 row proportion. Among intercropping systems, sweet corn + field bean (151.9 and121.0 q ha-1 respectively) and sweet corn + green pea (149.2 and 118.5 q ha-1 respectively) at 1:1 row proportion recordedsignificantly higher sweet corn yield with and without husk compared to 2:2 row proportion and also recorded highergrowth and yield attributes of both component crops. Further higher sweet corn equivalent yield (239.84 q ha-1), grossreturn (` 4,05,400 ha-1), net return (` 3,26,900 ha-1), and B:C ratio (5.17) were recorded in sweet corn + green pea in 1:1 rowratio, which was on par with sweet corn + field bean which had recorded higher LER and ATER in 1:1 row proportion.Therefore, sweet corn intercropped with green pea in 1:1 row ratio found remunerative.