Yield and yield component responses of intercropping yam (Dioscorea rotundata) and melon (Colocynthis vulgaris) in south-eastern Nigeria
1997
Odoemena, C.S. (Univ. of Uyo, Uyo (Nigeria). Dept. of Botany, Horticulture, and Microbiology)
The effect of intercropping yam (Dioscorea rotundata) and "Egusi" melon (Colocynthis vulgaris) on vegetative vigour, crop yield, and protein yield was studied over three years intensive cropping from March 1990 to October 1992 following a two-year fallow cover with Anthonotha macrophylla at the Faculty of Agriculture Experimental Farm, University of Uyo, Nigeria. The tuber yield and other yield components of the yam plant were significantly depressed by the presence of melon at all yam densities and spatial arrangements studied. Melon seed yield was significantly increased with intercropping. Increasing plant population density increased yield per hectare but decreased yield components per hectare. Intercropping favoured high protein yield per hectare in yam and depressed that of melon in relation to pure cropping, although the variations in the yields were not significant. The total land equivalent ratios (LER) indicated yield advantages.
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