• Authors:
    • Arvadia, M.
    • Patil, P.
    • Surve, V.
  • Source: Madras Agricultural Journal
  • Volume: 98
  • Issue: 10/12
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Field experiment was conducted during summer 2007 at Navsari campus on clay in textured soils with different cereal-legume fodders under sole and intercropping systems for getting higher fodder yield and economics. Green and dry fodder yields of sorghum/maize, cropping systems either sole sorghum or sorghum+cowpea in the ratio of 2:1 were equally good and superior to rest of the systems. The intercropping of sorghum with cowpea in a row ratio of 2:1 recorded maximum land-equivalent ratio (1.51), gross (Rs 60744/-ha -1) and net (Rs 50031/-ha -1) return along with higher benefit: cost ratio (5.67).
  • Authors:
    • Hore, J. K.
  • Source: The Jackfruit
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Jackfruit is popularly known as poor man's fruit in eastern and southern parts in India. The tree can be cultivated on marginal land and does not require intensive management to provide a good crop. The jack fruit is adopted only to humid tropical and near-tropical climates. It thrives from sea level to an altitude of 1600 m. It is grown on a variety of soils, deep alluvial, sandy loam, or clay loam of medium fertility, calcareous or lateritic soil, shallow limestone or stony soil with a pH of 5.0-7.5. The tree exhibits moderate tolerance to saline soils and poor drought and flood tolerance. The jack flourishes in rich, deep soil of medium or open texture, sometimes on deep gravelly or laterite soil. The best time for planting grafts or seedlings is June to August but with irrigation facilities it may be extended upto November. Pits of 1.0 m cube are dug at least 10 days before planting at a spacing of 8*8 m to 10*10 m. About 30 kg well-rotted farm yard manure, 500 g superphosphate and 250 g. muriate of potash are mixed with the top soil of the pit and refilled. Spraying of gibberellic acid (25-200 ppm) enhances both shoot and root growth. The young trees must be kept weed few during first three to four years. A 5-10 cm mulch will be good for suppression of weeds as well as to maintain soil moisture, particularly during the dry period. Regular punning of weak, dead and diseased branches at the end of rainy season is recommended. Fruit thinning is also recommended to prevent damage to branches due to heavy fruit load. Based on the firmness of flesh cultivated types are of two general groups (i) soft flesh - the pulp of ripe fruit is very juicy and soft, (ii) firm flesh - the flesh pulp is firm and crispy at ripe and can be preserved for several months. Some types are available with their common names viz., Gulabi, Hazari, Champaka, Rudrakshi, Singapore etc. The trees need good nutrition to promote regular and good bearing. The quantity of fertilizer required depends on vigour and age of trees and fertility of soil. The quantity of FYM varied from 20-50 kg/plant. The NPK dose (g/plant/year) for mature plant is 750:400:500 in Tamil Nadu, 800:480:1050 in Madhya Pradesh, 600:300:240 in Karnataka and 210:160:1000 in Assam. The yearly amount should be applied in two splits i.e., at the beginning of rainy season and after the rainy season is over. Manures and fertilizers should be applied in the drip zone i.e. 10 m wide circular basin, leaving 50 cm, around tree trunk. The Jackfruit is not normally irrigated. The trees are sensitive to drought and respond well to irrigation between flowering and fruiting. Since jackfruit takes about 8-10 years to attain full bearing, intercropping with vegetables like tomato, brinjal, chilli, cabbage, bhindi etc. and leguminous crops like cowpea, gram, kalai etc. will benefit the farmer. Seedling trees start bearing from 7th to 8th year onwards while the grafted ones from third year. The tree attains its peak bearing stage in about 15-16 years of planting. Period of fruit development is February to June. The optimum stage of harvesting has been reported to be 90-110 days after appearance of the spike. The fruit matures towards the end of summer in June. A tree bears upto 250 fruits annually, weighing about 3 kg to 25 kg with yield variation of 50-80 tonnes of fruit/ha.
  • Authors:
    • Dhankhar, O. P.
    • Sharma, K. D.
    • Sushil Kumar
    • Kaushik, R. A.
    • Kaushik, N.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Horticulture
  • Volume: 68
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The combinations of different tree species namely guava ( Psidium guajava)+ shisham ( Dalberiga sissoo), guava ( Psidium guajava)+ khejri ( Prosopis cineraria), aonla ( Embilica officinalis)+ shisham and aonla+ khejri were planted during Oct. 2000 at a spacing of 6 m * 6 m. After establishment of trees from July 2001 the crop sequences, viz., ridgegourd ( Luffa acutangula)-tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum), moongbean ( Vigna radiata) - fallow and clusterbean ( Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) - fallow were raised in the interspaces of the trees. Ridgegourd and tomato were raised with drip irrigation (100, 70 and 40% ETc), while moongbean and clusterbean were raised as rainfed crops. In general, maximum plant growth (height and diameter) was recorded under 100% level of irrigation for all the tree species. The tree species showed significant variation in growth. Irrigation treatments varied significantly only for diameter. The yield of intercrops was significantly affected by different irrigation levels and was highest at 100% irrigation level but it was not affected by different tree species. The highest yield of 385, 925, 5300 kg/ha of moongbean, clusterbean and ridgegourd were recorded under guava+ khejri at 100% ETc irrigation level. During rabi season (winter; November-March) maximum yield of tomato (46,220 kg/ha) was observed under 100% ETc. Water use efficiency for trees ranged from 1.19 to 11.0 g/l. Maximum WUE was observed in ridgegourd at all the irrigation levels under different systems.
  • Authors:
    • Zhang, C.
    • Wu, H. B.
    • Luan, Z. T.
    • Wang, H. J.
    • Zhai, W. Q.
    • Li, J. H.
  • Source: Xinjiang Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 47
  • Issue: 12
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Objective: The research was conducted on some keys factors which affect the planting effectiveness of cotton-melon interplanting in order to provide theoretical basis for improvement of the planting technique. Method: This study was carried out to investigate the irrigation and fertilization of cotton and melon, the main diseases, yield and quality of the melon, when intercropping of cotton and melon, compared with the common planting ways of cotton and melon. Result: Intergrowth contradictory between crops is little in cotton-melon Interplanting model, the powdery mildew of melon is less than that of melon of common planting way, while the downy mildew is more serious than melon of common planting way. A unit Hectare produced 3 888 kg cotton, 29 670 kg melon fruit with over 90% commodity rate. Conclusion: The Cotton-melon interplanting model obviously increased yield and income of unit field, which indicates that cotton-melon interplanting is helpful for increasing production and output value in a limited field in Kashgar.
  • Authors:
    • Zhang, F. S.
    • Sun, J. H.
    • Li, L.
  • Source: Soil Science and Plant Nutrition
  • Volume: 57
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Intercropping two species at different growth stages is common in temperate and tropical areas. An apparent recovery of growth is observed in late-maturing species after early-maturing species have been harvested, but the mechanism remained unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that the roots of late-maturing species occupy greater below-ground space at later growth stages. The monolith method was employed to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of maize grown alone (no interspecific interactions), maize intercropped with wheat (asymmetric interspecific facilitation before wheat harvesting), and maize intercropped with faba bean (symmetric interspecific facilitation) on August 8, September 2 and September 30, after harvesting of wheat (July 15) or faba bean (August 2). The results show that maize intercropped with wheat occupied more below-ground space at late growth stages than at early growth stages when the two crops grew at the same time, thus supporting our hypothesis. Furthermore, we also found that interspecific interactions during the co-growth stage of the two species led to a longer root life span in both maize intercropped with wheat and faba bean compared to the maize grown alone. The findings may partly explain the recovery of late-maturing species found in intercropping systems between two crop species with different growth stages and the complementary effect on the relationship between plant biodiversity and productivity.
  • Authors:
    • Mapurazi, S.
    • Mapfaire, L.
    • Masona, C.
    • Makanda, R.
  • Source: Journal of Sustainable Development
  • Volume: 4
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: A study was carried out in March 2010 at Firle Sewage Works in Harare, Zimbabwe to determine the effects of long term wastewater irrigation on the concentrations of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Mn, Cd, Pb, Ni, Fe and Cr) in soil, and their subsequent accumulation in maize plants. The study revealed that long term wastewater use for irrigation results in heavy metal accumulation in soils and bioaccumulation in plants beyond maximum permissible limits (MPL) for both humans and livestock consumption. Lead had highest transfer factor and iron had the least transfer factor. The soil pH was found to be less acidic (pH=5.6) in soils exposed to waste water than in soils where no wastewater had been applied (pH=5). As a recommendation there is need for phytoextraction of heavy metals by intercropping maize plants with local agro forestry shrubs to reduce amount of heavy metals in the soil.
  • Authors:
    • Muchaonyerwa, P.
    • Chiduza, C.
    • Murungu, F. S.
  • Source: African Journal of Agricultural Research
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 24
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Use of legume cover crops has been reported to improve maize productivity through various mechanisms that include improved soil mineral N supply and weed control. However, in the smallholder irrigation farming sector, where maize is the staple crop, strategies for intercropping summer legume cover crops are often a challenge for farmers. Field experiments were conducted in a warm-temperate region of South Africa during the summer season of 2007/08 and 2008/09 to investigate the effects of strip intercropping patterns (3:2; 4:2 and 6:2 patterns) on the productivity of maize (cv. PAN 6479) together with mucuna or sunnhemp. The strip-intercrop patterns did not result in improved soil mineral N or weed control. Maize yields from rows adjacent to the cover crop strips were significantly (P
  • Authors:
    • Muthukrishnan, P.
    • Fanish, S. A.
  • Source: Madras Agricultural Journal
  • Volume: 98
  • Issue: 7/9
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Field experiment was conducted at farmer's field at Palani taluk of Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu during kharif 2008 with the objective of evaluating the drip fertigation on water saving and Water Use Efficiency (WUE) in intensive maize based intercropping system. The experiment was laid out in strip plot design with three replications. The experiment consisted of 9 fertigation levels in main plot and 4 intercrops in sub plot. Among the different fertigation levels, higher maize grain yield of 7300 kg ha-1 was recorded under drip fertigation of 100 per cent RDF with 50 per cent P and K through water soluble fertilizer (WSF) followed by application of 150 per cent RDF through drip (7050 kg ha -1). The yield increase over drip irrigation with soil application of fertilizer was 39 per cent. Drip irrigation helped to save water up to 43.65 per cent compared to surface irrigation method. Among the different intercrops tested, higher WUE of 21.0 kg ha -1 mm -1 was observed under maize+vegetable coriander intercropping system.
  • Authors:
    • Gill, M. S.
    • Bhale, V. M.
    • Deshmukh, M. S.
    • Narkhede, W. N.
    • Gadade, G. D.
    • More, S. S.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Agronomy
  • Volume: 56
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted for three consecutive years (2005-2007) at Parbhani to find out most productive and profitable cropping system. Among the different cropping systems, highest wheat [( Triticum aestivum L.) emend. Fiori & Paol] equivalent yield (19.9 t/ha) and net monetary returns (Rs 107.8*10 3/ha) were obtained from soybean [ Glycine max (L. Merr.)]-onion ( Allium capa L.) cropping system, followed by turmeric ( Curcuma domestica L.)+castor ( Ricinus communis L.) (WEY-14.0 t/ha, and NMR Rs 89.8*10 3/ha). The soybean-onion system also recorded maximum net monetary advantage per unit time (Rs 573/ha/day), employment (374 mandays) and water use efficiency (221 kg/ha-cm), followed by turmeric+castor intercropping system. The highest nutrient uptake was recorded in sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]-wheat followed by maize ( Zea mays L.)+cow-pea ( Vigna sinensis L.)-wheat and maize-wheat cropping systems. The highest soil nutrient status was observed in cotton ( Gossypium sp.)-summer groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) followed by soybean-onion cropping systems.
  • Authors:
    • Cella, A. J. S.
    • Ferraz, E. de C.
    • Barros, H. B.
    • Santos, E. R. dos
    • Capone, A.
    • Santos, A. F. dos
    • Fidelis, R. R.
  • Source: Revista Ceres
  • Volume: 58
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The genetic diversity is one of the most important parameters evaluated by plant breeders in the early stages of a genetic improvement program. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the genetic divergence by means of multivariate techniques, among 48 soybean genotypes grown in irrigated lowland in the State of Tocantins, in order to select parents of hybrids for the production of oil and meal, as well as varieties of the panel, intended for human consumption. The experiment was conducted in the county Formoso do Araguaia - Tocantins, Brazil, in the cultivation of irrigated lowland, in the inter-cropping 2010. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications. There was observed variability among the genotype tested. The Tocher's method, UPGMA and Canonic Variables agreed among themselves, and found four distinct groups. The following hybrids are promising for the production of soybean oil and meal for the M-Soy 8766, M-Soy 9144, A-7002 and M-soy 9056 with Amaralina RR crosses between and M-Soy 8766, M-Soy 9144 and Amaralina RR with BRSMG 790A, BRS 257, BRS 216 and BRS 213, are listed in order especially soybeans for human consumption.