Growth and yield of temulawak (Curcuma xanthorizha Roxb.) and corn (Zea mays L.) with various intercropping patterns

Abstract

Temulawak is rarely cultivated with any intensity because it has a long harvest time and requires wide spacing. One of the solutions for temulawak cultivation is through applying intercropping systems with corn. The current research aimed to determine the most advantageous intercropping planting pattern of temulawak and corn. The experiment adhered to a randomized block design with six treatments and four replications. The treatments were: T1 = strip cropping; T2 = row cropping; T3 = strip-relay temulawakcorn; T4 = row-relay temulawak-corn; T5 = strip-relay corn-temulawak; and T6 = rowrelay corn-temulawak. The results showed that different cropping patterns of an intercropping system of temulawak and corn affected the growth and yield of both crops. The most suitable polyculture cropping pattern, based on land equivalence ratios (LER) values and R/C ratios, was strip cropping that produced rhizhomes of temulawak of up to 2.68 ton ha-1 and of corn of up to 5.24 ton ha-1. The LER value was 1.22 and the revenue/cost (R/C) ratio was as much as 1.43 with a net profit of as much as IDR 9,509,000.

Keywords

• Temulawak
• corn
• cropping patterns
• intercropping