Effect of Spatial Arrangement on Grain and Fruit Yield of Component Crops in Maize/Okra Intercrop in Kilifi County, Kenya

Abstract

Maize production in Kilifi County, Kenya has been on the decline due to limitations of poor soils, unpredictable rainfall and its cultivation in small parcels of land. Okra is one of the high value crops intercropped with maize in the County. The area under okra cultivation has been on the rise due to increased demand, good export market, nutritional and medicinal value. Intercropping has considerable benefits of maximizing productivity. In Kilifi County, intercropping maize and okra is done in various mixtures, with inconsistence in plant density. Field studies were undertaken in two seasons: short rains (October 2020 - January 2021) and long rains (April - July 2021), at Industrial Crops Research Institute (ICRI) farm, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) - Mtwapa in Kilifi, Kenya. The objective was to evaluate the effect of spatial arrangement on grain and fruit yield of maize and okra respectively in maize/okra intercropping system. There were four treatments consisting of sole maize, sole okra, maize/okra intercrop in alternating rows of 1:2, and maize/okra intercrop in 2:2 spatial arrangement, replicated three times in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Maize yield data measured included: number of cobs per plant, cob diameter, cob length, cob weight, number of grains per cob, 1000 grain weight, and total grain yield. Okra yield parameters included number of fruits per plant, fruit diameter, fruit weight, fruit length and fruit yield (t/ha). Results showed that the number of okra fruits per plant, fruit weight and fruit length were significantly affected (P ≤ 0.05) by spatial arrangement. However, spatial arrangement did not significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affect the number of cobs per plant, cob length, cob diameter, cob weight, number of grains per cob, 1000 grain weight and total maize grain yield. Moreover, okra fruit diameter, and total okra yield were not significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected by spatial arrangement. This study recommends that farmers in Kilifi County can combine maize and okra as intercrop in the ratio 1:2 and 2:2. Intercropping maize and okra can enable them get their staple food of maize, and have okra vegetable to meet their dietary requirements, and increase land utilization.