Sustainable strategies for enhancing maize yields, nutrition, and economic security through legume intercropping in semi-arid regions.
Sannagoudar MS, Murthy KNK, Jinger D, Meena VS, Rajanna GA
Crop Improvement
Planting climbing beans next to your corn patch can feed the soil, crowd out weeds, and put more food on your table without extra land — a centuries-old trick now backed by hard field data.
Scientists tested different ways of planting maize alongside bean varieties in dry regions over two growing seasons. They found that arranging maize in paired rows with beans growing between them, while giving both plants their full share of fertilizer, produced the most grain and the most profit. French bean was the star companion, boosting soil microbes and leaving the soil healthier for the next crop.
Key Findings
Paired row planting increased maize seed yield by 8.14% and net returns by 11.7% compared to conventional single-row planting.
Fertilizing both maize and the intercrop (rather than maize alone) boosted seed yield by 12.5% and net income by 14.4%.
Maize intercropped with French bean in paired rows produced the highest yields, land-use efficiency, and soil microbial activity of all combinations tested.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Growing beans alongside maize in paired rows — and fertilizing both crops — boosted maize yields by up to 12.5% and net farm income by 14.4% in water-scarce regions. French bean emerged as the best companion crop, improving soil health and making farming more resilient to climate stress.
Abstract Preview
Over the years, maize productivity in the semi-arid regions is increasingly constrained by climate variability, soil nutrient depletion and rising input costs, questioning the sustained productivit...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Chloroplast Genome Editing Eliminates Gluten Immunogenicity in Triticum aestivum
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern ...