Legume-Maize Intercropping System: An Alternative Pathway for Sustainable Agriculture
Faisul-Ur- Rasool *
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
M. I. Bhat
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K), India.
Z. A. Dar
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
B. A. Lone
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K), India.
Latief Ahmad
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
S. A. Hakeem
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
Z. Rashid
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
S. Naseer
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
S. Bashir
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
S. Majid
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
S. Nissa
Dryland Agriculture Research Station, Rangreth (SKUAST-K), India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Intercropping provides ample scope to include two or more crops simultaneously in same piece of land thus targeting higher productivity from unit area on sustainable basis. Maize, a cereal crop of immense importance, planted in wide rows offers the possibility for adoption of intercropping. The intercropping system with maize and legume is beneficial in multiple aspects. The success of maize-legume intercropping system largely depends on choice of crops and their maturity, density, and time of planting. Advantage of maize-legume intercropping system is promoted in the form of higher yield and greater utilization of available resources, benefits in weeds control [1,2], pests and disease management [3], fixation of biological nitrogen by legumes and transfer of N to associated maize [4,5], insurance against crop failure to small holders, and control of erosion by covering a large extent of ground area [6]. Though maize-legume intercropping system exhibits limitations like less scope of farm mechanization, dependence on more human workforce, and chance of achieving less productivity from maize, the system implies more advantages for small holders in developing countries where human workforce is not a constraint.
Keywords: Intercropping, legume, maize, productivity, sustainability