Intercropping corn and kudzu in a rotation system with soybean

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of sowingprocedures and the seed sowing rate of kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides cv.`Comum') in corn on corn plant development, forage dry matterproduction, weed infestation and soybean plant development and yield.The kudzu seeds were either broadcasted over the terrain or sown infurrows (in the main plots) at rates, in both cases, of 400, 800, 1200and 1600 points of cultural value (on the subplots). Singly cultivatedcorn was considered the control treatment. Intercropping did not causecorn plant development to show any significant difference compared withthat of the singly cultivated corn plants. When sown in furrows, thenumber and dry matter contents of the kudzu plants were higher thansowing by broadcasting. The number of plants and the dry matter of theplants increased with the number of seeds. Prior to sowing soybean, theincidence of weeds decreased as the number of kudzu seeds at sowingincreased. The intercropping of corn with kudzu benefited soybean plantpopulation, plant height, and grain yield in comparison with the singlecultivating of corn in the previous year.