Effect of intercropping systems and sowing dates on productivity of sesame crop intercropped with maize under newly planted sandy soil conditions.

Two field experiments were conducted in newly sandy soil during the two successive summer seasons, 2004 and 2005, at the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour, Alexandria, University, at EI-Boustan Region, El-Behera Governorate, Egypt. The main objective of this investigation aimed to study the effect of intercropped sesame / maize by two combinations of sowing dates for each crop under three intercropping systems on seed yield and its components of sesame crop. Data indicated that the same ridge of intercropping system had an insignificant reduction for sesame seed yield, percentage of survived plants, number of fruiting branches /plant and seed yield /plant, compared with the two other studied alternating ridges of intercropping systems. The two intercropping systems of alternating ridges were statistically similar for sesame seed yield and its components. Intercropping sesame with maize highly significantly reduced sesame seed yield and all studied traits of seed yield components, except for the percentage of survived plants and seed index in the second season, compared with solid planted sesame. The early sowing of solid planted sesame on April 20th significantly surpassed the late sowing on May 20th in seed yield and its components, except for percentage of survived plants in both seasons and seed yield plant in the first season. Intercropping sesame with maize, by sowing sesame early on April 20th at the same time as maize (SIM,) or thirty days before maize sowing (S1 M2 ), gave a highly significant seed yield, number of fruiting branches /plant, seed yield /plant, seed index and number of capsules /plant in both seasons. Meanwhile, the differences were significant for percentage of survived plants in the first season, but were insignificant in the second season, compared to the other intercropping sowing sequences; i.e., (S2 M1) and (S2 ,M2). There was a significant interaction between intercropping systems and sowing times for number offruiting branches / plant, number of capsules /plant, in both seasons, and seed yield /plant in the first season. It could be stated that intercropping sesame with maize by using the same ridge system and sowing both crops simultaneously in the same time (20th of April) might give a good sesame seed yield under newly sandy soil conditions.