What Are The Effects Of Plant Spacing And Intercropping Maize And Cowpea?

The trial was carried out at the Teaching and Research farm of The College of Education, Lanlate to determine the growth characteristics and yield effects of plant spacing and intercropping maize and cowpea. The experimental design used was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) six treatments and five replicates. The treatments were as follows; (1) Cowpea intercropped with maize at 50 X 50cm spacing; (2) Cowpea intercropped with maize at 25 X 25 cm spacing; (3) Sole maize at 50 X 50cm spacing; (4) Sole cowpea at 50 X 50cm spacing; (5) Sole maize at 25 X 25cm spacing and (6) Sole cowpea at 25 X 25cm spacing. Each treatment was replicated five times to make thirty (30) experimental plots. The planting of maize (Zea mays) and the cowpea (Vigna
The failure of one crop could be compensated by the good growth of the other which output can cover the cost of production. The differences in the depth of rooting, lateral root spread and root densities are some of the factors that affect competition between the component crops in an intercropping system for nutrients (Abdulraheem and Charles, 2013; Carruthers et al 2000). The cereal component, maize in this experiment usually is taller, has a faster growing or move extensive root system particularly a large mass of fine root and is competitive for soil nitrogen closer row spacing increases yield and the smallest row spacing results in the highest yield for maize and cowpea (Abdulraheem, et. al. 2012). Different crops have their own maturity dates and having one crop matures before its companion crop. This reduces the competition between the two crops. Selecting crops or varieties with different maturity date can also assist staged harvesting and separation
The results showed that the growth of the maize using stem height as a parameter is better when maize is intercropped with cowpea at 50X50cm spacing. The growth of maize intercropped with cowpea at 25X25cm spacing is better also using the stem height as a comparative measures when compared with the sole maize both at 50X50cm and 25X25cm spacing respectively. Intercropping maize and cowpea has essential increased the effect on the yield of maize. The best yield (using no of seeds/plant, weight of seeds and biomass of maize and cowpea) was recorded in the treatment where the maize and cowpea were intercropped while relatively lower yield was recorded in sole maize both at 50X50cm and 25X25cm