last final thesis of umer

The highest HI (47.86%) was recorded from maize intercropped with 100% cowpea density where
the lowest HI (38.47%) was recorded from maize intercropped with 50% cowpea density (Table
9). The reduction of HI% at 50% population density might be due to less grain yield and high dry
biomass of maize at 50% population density of cowpea. This result agrees with the finding of
Saleem et al. (2015) on maize-mung bean intercropping. High harvest index indicates the presence
of good partitioning of dry matter to grain yield.
4.3. Effect of intercropping of maize with different population density and
varieties of cowpea on yield and yield components of cowpea crop
4.3.1. Cowpea Phenology
Days 50% to Flowering
Days to flowering was highly significantly (p<0.01) affected by cowpea varieties while cropping
system, planting density as well as interaction effect was not significant (Appendix Table 4). This
result contradicted with Smith et al. (2001) who reported that days to flowering of pigeon pea
decreases with increasing pigeon pea population when intercropped with maize.
Although days to flowering was not significantly affected due to cropping system, there was a
delay in one day in intercropped treatments compared to sole cowpea. This could probably be due
to shading effect of maize which reduces effective heat unit accumulation, resulting in longer
required growth period. Similarly, Muoneke et al. (2007) and Mpangane et al. (2004) did not find
any significant differences in terms of days to 50% flowering of soybean intercropped with maize
and maize-cowpea intercropping, respectively. Hardley et al. (1983) stated that flowering is
dependent on both genotype and environment.
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