A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1991

The effect of three different populations of maize (Zea mays L) (viz. 26,666 , 33,333 , and 44,444 plants/ha) intercropped with three different populations (viz 88,888 , 66,666 , and 53,333 plants/ha) of soybean (Glycine max) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea) respectively on growth and yield parameters were studied in two separate experiments. Different populations of maize did not significantly affect its growth and the growth parameter s of the legumes. Similarly, different populations of legumes did not affect their growths and the growth of maize. In maize-soybean associations cob and grain yields were not significantly affected by different populations of soybean, while different populations of peanuts had significant effect on the grain yield of maize, where in higher yields and larger seed sizes were observed in the intercrops of maize and peanut populations of 33,333 and 66,666 plants / ha respectively. Dry matter yield of maize was not significantly affected by different populations although it was high with the intercrops than the monocrops. High pod and seed yields were observed in the monocrops than intercrops which was significantly higher with the peanuts than the soybeans. The legumes in both systems had higher pod and seed yields in populations densities of 66,666 plant/ha, while larger seeds we r e observe d in population densities of 53,333 plants/ha. Maize- peanut association was the best intercropping system in this study. While both these systems show the superiority of intercropping over the monocropping in terms of biological yields The economic analysis on the contrary shows, that in terms of net returns, monocropping system was better, while the intercrop system gave higher marginal rate of net returns.