Cassava/Maize Intercrop Yield Response to Different Plant Population Densities in Makurdi and Lafia

Idoko Joseph, Adakole Gabriel Agnes , Akaazua, Baranabas Wanger

Twofield experiments were conducted from 2015 to 2016 in Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State and Research and Teaching Farm of the College of Agriculture, Lafia, Nasarawa State all in Nigeria. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of planting density on the yield of intercropped maize with cassava.The result obtained from the experiment showed that intercropping depressed both the growth and yield of both maize and cassava. Sole cropping gave higher grain yield of maize than intercropping in Lafia (2.41t/ha and 1.59t/ha repectively) and Makurdi (2.51t/ha amd 1.66t/ha respectively). Intercropping also decreased the plant height of maize at harvest, leaf area index at harvest, cob circumference, cob length, number of rows per cob, number of seeds per cob, cob weightand 100-seed weightof maize. Maize sown at a population density of 40,000 plants per hectare produced the highest cob weight of maize in Lafia (4.32t/ha) and Makurdi (4.43t/ha). A similar trend was observed in grain yield where maize sown at 40,000 plants/ha gave the highest grain yield in Lafia (2.52t/ha) and Makurdi (2.56t/ha). The plant population density of 20,000 plants/ha gave higher values for all other parameters evaluated. Cassava intercropped wit maize at a population density of 20,000 plants per hectare produced higher yield and yield parameters of cassava than any other density.Although the yields of sole crops were higher than their intercrop counterparts, intercropping was more productive than sole crop components as evidenced by Land Equivalent Ratio and Land Equivalent coefficient values, which were above unity and 0.25, respectively. Maize was the more competitive component of the maize/cassava intercropping in both Lafia and Makurdi locations.