TITLE:
Yield, Yield Components and Yield Stability of Component Crops in a Maize-Cowpea Intercrop System in the Sudan Savannah Zone in Ghana
AUTHORS:
Listowell Aditwin Akologo, Harrison Kwame Dapaah, Margaret Esi Essifie, Julius Yirzagla
KEYWORDS:
Agro-Ecological, Ecosystem Services, Phenological Development, Component Crops
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.16 No.7,
July
28,
2025
ABSTRACT: A cereal-legume intercrop multi-location research was conducted at the experimental fields of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) at Manga, Binduri District and at the Presbyterian Agricultural Station (PAS) at Garu District, from July - October 2021 and repeated in same time and place in 2022. The aim of this research was to examine the influence of intercropping systems on yield, yield components and stability of maize and cowpea in a maize-cowpea intercrop in a multi-location experiment in the Sudan Savannah zone in Ghana. The study was carried out in a 3 × 3 factorial, laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 4 replications. The factors studied were Row arrangements (RA): 1 row maize altenating with 1 row cowpea (1M:1C), 2 rows maize altenating with 2 rows cowpea (2M:2C) and 3 rows maize alternating with 3 rows cowpea (3M:3C) as Factor A. Factor B was the relative times of planting, Simultaneous planting of maize and cowpea (SIM), maize planted 2 weeks before cowpea (M2WBC) and cowpea planted 2 weeks before maize (C2WBM) in addition to Sole maize and sole cowpea crops. The yield and yield components of both maize and cowpea were significantly higher than the sole crops at both locations and seasons. Component crops planted simultaneously (SIM) at 2M:2C produced the largest maize yield of 13.33 t/ha, followed by planting maize 2WBC at 2M:2C (8.27 t/ha), while the least maize yield was reported by 3M:3C + C2WBM (1.40 t/ha). The highest cowpea yield was obtained when cowpea was planted 2WBM at 1M:1C (3.79 t/ha), followed by planting maize and cowpea simultaneously (SIM) at 1M:1C. The lowest cowpea yield was produced by 3M:3C + SIM (0.93 t/ha) at Garu in 2021. Yield stability analysis indicated that 1M:1C + C2WBM and 2M:2C + C2WBM for maize and 2M:2C + M2WBC, 2M:2C + SIM and Sole Cowpea for cowpea had regression coefficient values close to 1 making these systems more stable. It is recommended that farmers interested maize yields could adopt planting the two crops simultaneously at 2M:2C row arrangement for maximum crop yield and those interested in cowpea yields could adopt planting cowpea 2 weeks before maize at 1M:1C to harvest more cowpea.