Effect of Sorghum-Mung Bean Intercropping on Sorghum-Based Cropping System in the Lowlands of North Shewa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Due to decreasing land units and a decline in soil fertility, integrating mung beans into the Sorghum production system is a viable option for increasing productivity and producing cash crops. The experiment was conducted during the 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons in order to evaluate the effect of a Sorghum-mung bean intercrop arrangement on a Sorghum-based cropping system that would maximize intercropping advantage without reducing Sorghum performance. The treatments were combinations of sole Sorghum, sole mung bean, one Sorghum by one mung bean row (1 : 1), one Sorghum by two mung bean rows (1 : 2), two Sorghum by one mung bean row (2 : 1), and mixed planting of Sorghum and mung bean (50/50), which were tested in a randomized complete block design replicated four times. The highest yield reduction was observed from intercropping mixed planting (15.63%), in addition, the mean intercropped Sorghum yield showed up to12.44% reduction compared to sole stand. On the other hand, best-intercropped Sorghum yields that were produced under combinations of 2 : 1 row arrangement (4.11 t·ha−1) gave a statistically similar yield to all combinations including sole stand (4.48 t·ha−1). Significant row arrangement effect showed that the row (1 : 2) gave the highest yield for mung bean (0.35 t·ha−1), while the lowest was recorded from row arrangement (1 : 1) (0.16 t·ha−1). The highest total LER was obtained at 1 : 2 row (1.23) arrangements. The highest net return and marginal return (MRR) (341.23%) was obtained from one-row Sorghum alternated with two-row mung bean (1 : 2). Therefore, farmers around the research area can get additional income from intercropping Sorghum with bean crops without adversely affecting Sorghum yield by using one-row Sorghum alternated two-row mung bean (1 : 2) row arrangement.

The Effects of Integrated Soil Fertility Management Practices in Enhancing Sorghum Yields

“…The MBILI intercropping technique demonstrated a canopy-like formation, increasing competition for nutrients and resulting in higher stover yields at both sites. This nding aligns with previous studies indicating that intercropping can signi cantly increase crop yield and biomass dry matter, especially under optimal nitrogen fertilization (Temeche et al, 2022). Overall, the utilization of integrated soil fertility management practices, including appropriate fertilizer applications and intercropping techniques, emerges as a promising approach to enhance sorghum and green gram production in Tharaka-Nithi County.…”

“…Intercropping is bene cial, complementary, and/or compatible with the use of resources. Examples of necessary resources include light, water, and soil nutrients (Temeche et al, 2022). Due to its rapid growth, green gram can utilize resources before the slower-growing sorghum can, saving resources from being wasted.…”

The Effects of Some Different Cultural Techniques on the Transmission and Infectious Development of Pepper Yellow Leaf Curl Indonesia Virus on Red Chili

“…Still, no effect on plant disease was reported. Most of the research was combinations between leguminous and food crops such as maize-mung bean (Syafruddin & Suwardi, 2020), cottonmung bean (Liang et al, 2020), sorghum-mungbean (Temeche et al, 2022), sorghum-soybean (Saberi, 2018), maize-soybean (Berdjour et al, 2020), and rice-soybean (Putra & Sas, 2023).…”