Document Type : Full Paper
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran
2
M. Sc. Graduate, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
3
Professor, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
4
Ph. D. Graduate, Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran
Abstract
To investigate the effect of intercropping corn/cucumber and okra/cucumber on growth indices and yield of cucumber, an experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications, during 2013-2014 cropping year, in Ravansar region in Kermanshah province. Treatments included: intercropping corn/cucumber (cucumber %100, cucumber %25 + corn %75, cucumber %50 + corn %50, cucumber %75 + corn %25) and okra/cucumber (cucumber %100, cucumber%25 + okra %75, cucumber %50 + okra %50, cucumber %75 + okra %25). Among the different treatments, cucumber %25 + corn %75 treatment had the highest plant length (276 cm), maximum number of fruit per plant (44.33) and the highest fruit yield (41344 kg/ha). Maximum number of lateral stem (6 per plant) was obtained from cucumber %25 + okra %75 treatment. Results indicated that land equivalent ratio (LER) was greater than 1.0, when both intercropping corn/cucumber and okra/cucumber crops were planted. The LER of corn/cucumber intercropping was 1.24, when cucumber %75 + corn %25 was planted. Economic efficiency of intercropping was affected by different intercropping combinations. The highest economic efficiency was obtained from cucumber %25 + corn %75 treatment. Moreover, in the cucumber %25 + okra %75 combination, economic efficiency was significantly less than cucumber pure crop.
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