Water hyacinth-based vermicompost on yield, yield components, and yield advantage of cassava+groundnut intercropping system
Keywords:
Aggressivity, Eichhornia crassipes, Vermicompost, Land equivalent ratioAbstract
A field trial was conducted to assess the potential of water haycinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart) Solms-Laubach] + animal manure (cow dung/poultry manure) compost for improving the productivity of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) + groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) intercropping system. The treatments consisted of four nutrient sources (control, 200 kg NPKMg of 12:12:17:2 mixture ha–1, 40 Mg ha–1 of water hyacinth+poultry manure vermicompost, and 40 Mg ha–1 water hyacinth+cow dung vermicompost), three cropping densities (50 000, 100 000, and 200 000 plants ha–1), and three cropping patterns (sole cassava, sole groundnut, and cassava+groundnut intercropping) in factorial randomized complete block design with three replicates. Sole groundnut yield decreased significantly (p< 0.05) when intercropped with cassava. However, water hyacinth-based vermicompost increased cassava fresh tuber yield over mineral fertilizer. Average land equivalent ratio (LER) and area time equivalent ratio (ATER) indicated 39% to 81% land utilization efficiency. Aggressivity index showed that cassava is the dominant crop in the cassava-groundnut intercropping system.Downloads
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