Gondar Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 1337, Gondar, Ethiopia
Tarekegn, A., Gondar Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 1337, Gondar, Ethiopia; Zelalem, T., Gondar Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 1337, Gondar, Ethiopia
The effect of intercropping some forage legumes with maize crop on biomass yield of legumes and the grain and Stover yield of maize was determined under irrigation condition of Megech by using a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD). The legumes used for under sowing were Vigna unguiculata, Lablab purpureus and Vicia atropurpurea and the maize-legume integration were sole Maize (SM), Maize + Vigna unguiculata (MU), Maize + Lablab purpureus (ML) and Maize + Vicia atropurpurea (MV). The results indicated that intercropping forage legumes with maize crop did not affect the growth, grain and Stover yield of maize. The biomass yield of individual forage legumes showed that L. purpureus gave the highest forage dry matter yield and higher than the rest of under sown forage legumes. With respect to total biomass yield (Biomass yield of Forage and Maize Stover) ML yielded the highest biomass. The results suggest that maize grain yield and biomass yield of intercrops can be maximized for both human and livestock feeding by integrating L. purpureus with maize crop.
