Agronomic Evaluation of Sorghum and Cowpea Intercropped at Different Spatial Arrangements

Abstract

Field experiment was conducted at Gedarif state at two locations for two consecutive seasons (2006 and 2007) under rain-fed conditions, to investigate the effects of intercropping sorghum and cowpea on the performance of sorghum and cowpea. The experiment consisted of six treatments; sole sorghum crop, sole cowpea crop and four spatial arrangements of 2:2, 1:1, 2:1 and 1:2 rows for sorghum alternated with cowpea. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) was used to evaluate the productivity. In general, the results indicated that yield significant differences among the spatial arrangements. 1:1 arrangement obtained the highest values of sorghum panicle weight (57g), sorghum grain yield (1079kg/ha), sorghum hay weight (5572kg/ha) and combined total hay weight (7337kg/ha) for both sorghum and cowpea. Moreover, the best total LER (2.11) was obtained under 1:1 spatial arrangement.