2026 Vol-6 Issue-2 | ASSESSMENT OF GROWTH AND YIELD IN MAIZE/COWPEA MIXTURES AS INFLUENCED BY TIME OF INTRODUCTION

A field experiment was conducted during the 2025 cropping season at the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM) to evaluate the growth, yield and competitive interaction of two cowpea cultivars (Vital 5 and IAR 48) as influenced by time of introduction in maize–cowpea mixtures. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications, with time of introduction (M0C, simultaneous planting; M−2M, maize planted two weeks before cowpea; and C+2M, cowpea planted two weeks before maize) assigned to the main plots and cowpea cultivars to the sub-plots. Growth and yield component data were collected, while intercropping efficiency was assessed using land equivalent ratio (LER) and land equivalent coefficient (LEC). Sole cropping generally produced higher growth and yield than intercropping. Among the intercrop treatments, maize intercropped with IAR 48 performed better than maize intercropped with Vital 5. Sole maize recorded the highest grain yield (3.83 t ha⁻¹), while maize intercropped with IAR 48 and Vital 5 produced 3.27 and 2.84 t ha⁻¹, respectively. M−2M recorded the highest maize grain yield under the time-of-introduction treatments (4.16 t ha⁻¹). For cowpea, IAR 48 recorded higher grain yield than Vital 5, while C+2M produced the highest cowpea grain yield (1.60 t ha⁻¹). LER values ranged from 1.32 to 1.83, while LEC values ranged from 0.43 to 0.81 among the intercrop combinations, indicating improved land-use efficiency and productive interaction. The highest LER (1.83) and LEC (0.81) were recorded in maize intercropped with Vital 5 under C+2M. Overall, Vital 5 under C+2M showed the greatest potential for efficient maize–cowpea intercropping in the study environment.