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1.2<br />
1.1<br />
1.0<br />
0.9<br />
0.8<br />
0.7<br />
0<br />
1.1<br />
1.0<br />
0.9<br />
0.8<br />
Chickpea ( p l a n t s / m 2 )<br />
13.3<br />
26.7<br />
40.0<br />
53.3<br />
One row safflower : One row chickpea<br />
genotypes and these were correlated with intercropping<br />
performance. Unfortunately, yields<br />
of pigeonpea and Setaria were poor and no<br />
correlations with these crops were significant.<br />
With sorghum, the best correlations were with<br />
difference in height and difference in maturity.<br />
These effects were substantiated by a yield trial<br />
which examined all intercropping combinations<br />
of four pearl millet genotypes x four sorghum<br />
genotypes (Table 54). For two crops so similar,<br />
the advantages of intercropping were remarkably<br />
high. Nine of the 16 combinations gave<br />
advantages ranging from 10 to 32 percent. The<br />
two highest advantages were from the combinations<br />
of latest sorghum with earliest millet<br />
and earliest sorghum with latest millet. The third<br />
highest advantage was from the tallest sorghum<br />
with shortest millet. But other advantages could<br />
not be explained in terms of height and maturity<br />
differences. It seems likely that there are many<br />
other factors involved, so these crop combinations<br />
will be studied further next season.<br />
0.7<br />
0<br />
One row safflower : T w o rows chickpea<br />
0 5 10 15<br />
Safflower ( p l a n t s / m 3 )<br />
Figure 73. Population effects on saffower/<br />
chickpea intercropping at two<br />
row arrangements on Vertisols at<br />
ICRISAT Center, 1976 (3-point moving<br />
average).<br />
little or no advantage when the planting pattern<br />
was one row safflower to two rows chickpea. The<br />
advantages in alternate rows may have been<br />
partly due to a beneficial effect of shading on the<br />
chickpea, an effect which has been observed in<br />
the chickpea physiology research.<br />
Genotype Evaluation<br />
In cooperation with the pearl millet breeders, 40<br />
pearl millet genotypes were subjected to initial<br />
intercrop screening with pigeonpea, Setaria, and<br />
sorghum. A large number of plant characters<br />
and yield determinants were measured on ail<br />
Three-crop Intercropping<br />
The effects of adding intercrops of Setaria (90<br />
days), groundnut (134 days), or both to pigeonpea<br />
(184 days) were examined on both soil types<br />
(Table 55). The Setaria/pigeonpea combination<br />
gave a large advantage on both soils; groundnut<br />
gave a large advantage on Alfisols, but less on<br />
Vertisols. The three-crop combination gave larger<br />
advantages than the two-crop combination<br />
on Vertisols, suggesting that the different maturity<br />
periods of the three crops allowed some<br />
complementarity in terms of the use of growth<br />
resources over time. However, on Alfisols, the<br />
three-crop combinations gave smaller advantages<br />
than did the two-crop combinations. In<br />
view of the dry period during September, these<br />
data suggest that three-crop intercropping may<br />
be beneficial only if there is sufficient moisture to<br />
support all three crops.<br />
Relay and Sequential Cropping<br />
In 1975-1976, there was good evidence that a<br />
rainy season as well as a postrainy season crop<br />
160
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