Journal of Agricultural Science and Sustainable Production (Dec 2017)
Evaluation of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum L.) and Florists Daisy (Chrysanthemum morifolium L.) Intercropping and Its Effects on Insect Population
Abstract
Intercropping is a common method of crop production in many regions of the world mainly due to the resources efficiency and yeid promotion. To study the agronomic traits of Chrysanthemum morifolium intercropped with fenugreek, an experiment was conducted as RCBD with seven treatments; (T1): fenugreek sole cropping (T2): Chrysanthemum sole cropping (T3): 50 percentage Chrysanthemum and 50 percentage fenugreek intercropping, (T4): 35 percentage Chrysanthemum and 65 percentage fenugreek, (T5): 35 percentage fenugreek and 75 percentage intercropping Chrysanthemum, (T6) 25 percentage Chrysanthemum and 75 percentage fenugreek intercropping and (T7) 75 percentage Chrysanthemum and 25 percentage fenugreek. The results revealed the positive effects of intercropping on flower and shoot number, fresh weight of the plant and root and flower dry weight in Chrysanthemum. The greatest plant fresh weight (289.1 g) and root fresh weight (41.3 g) was belonged to T7 treatment. The highest shoot number was recorded in T5, T6 and T7 treatments. For the flower dry weight, T5 (31.03 g) and T7 (30.9 g) hold the greatest data. The highest recorded flower number in Chrysanthemum was attained by T5 treatment. The highest data for fenugreek growth characteristic was belonged to fenugreek monocropping (pod number per plants, plant fresh and dry weight and root fresh and dry weight. Land Equality Ratio for all the intercropping patterns was greater than 1, showing the higher effecincy and profitability of intercropping compared to sole cropping. The results as well indicated that the most number of pests and natural enemies were shown in sole and inter-cropping treatments, respectively.
