Effects of Spatial Arrangements and Fertilizers on Productivity in Maize (Zea mays) and Spinach (Celosia argentea) Intercrop

Abstract

Maize production falls short of demands in the world because of continuous cropping of a land area, which result into loss of natural soil fertility and decline in yield. This study was undertaken to investigate the performance of maize to organic and inorganic fertilizer and to ascertain spacing for maize-spinach intercrop. The experiment was conducted at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan. The nutrient sources were farmyard organic manure (derived from household waste materials), and inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15:15:15). These soil nutrient sources were applied at the rate of 100Kg N/ha. The plant spacing used for the maize/spinach intercrop include; 75 x 50 cm, 75 x 75 cm, 75 x 25 cm-sole maize and 25 x 10 cm-sole spinach. Data collected were; plant height, number of leaves, stem girth, leaf area, and yield per cob and fresh weight of spinach. All data were analyzed using the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means separated by the least significant difference at 5% probability (LSD, 0.05). F1T1 and F2T4 produced better values for growth and yield parameters than other treatments. The highest value for fresh weight of spinach was obtained at F2T2 (9.30Kg).The results suggested that the application of NPK fertilizer was the best nutrient source for maize production and maize-spinach intercrop should be planted at either 75 x 50 cm spacing, although organic fertilizer is environmental friendly, cheaper and release nutrients contents are slowly, store longer in the soil, thus subsequent planting can still benefit already from previous application.