Effect of paired row planting of radish ( Raphanus sativus L.) intercropped with vegetable amaranthus ( Amaranthus tricolor L.) on yield components of radish in sandy regosol

Abstract

This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of paired row planting of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) intercropped with vegetable amaranthus (Amaranthus tricolor L.) on yield components of radish in sandy regosol at Agronomy farm, Eastern University, Sri Lanka in Yala 2007. This experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates and six treatments. Base crop (T1) and intercrop (T2) were grown in pure stands and other treatments were 20/50 cm paired row planting of radish with three (T3) or four (T4) rows of vegetable amaranthus in between paired rows of radish and 25/40 cm paired row planting of radish with three (T5) or two (T6) rows of vegetable amaranthus in between paired rows of radish. Growth parameters were recorded at regular intervals. The results showed that land equivalent ratio was superior in all tested intercropping treatments. In T3, radish yield was high (37.8 tons/ha) and most of the yield components exhibited high average values as compared with other intercropping treatments. The present study revealed that 20/50 cm paired row planting of radish with three rows of vegetable amaranthus in between paired rows of radish (T3) would be the most suitable planting system in sandy regosol. Key words: Base crop; inter crop; land equivalent ratio; paired row planting; yield. DOI: 10.4038/jas.v4i1.1642 The Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2009, vol. 4, no. 1 pp.19-28