Fo. Olasantan et al., RESPONSE OF CASSAVA AND MAIZE TO FERTILIZER APPLICATION, AND A COMPARISON OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR GROWTH DURING INTERCROPPING, Nutrient cycling in agroecosystems, 46(3), 1996, pp. 215-223
A field experiment was conducted on a Paleustalf to examine the effect
of fertilizer application and the possible yield limiting factors in
a cassava-maize intercropping system. Application of N-fertilizer sign
ificantly increased maize grain and cassava root yields as well as N,
P and K concentrations of both crops compared with application of non-
N fertilizer or with the unfertilized controls, Intercropping, with or
without fertilizer application, led to a decrease in the root yield a
nd N, P and K concentrations of cassava, but had no significant effect
on nutrient concentrations and grain yield of maize. Growth analysis
revealed that from 20 weeks after planting to harvest in cassava and d
uring the flowering to harvest in maize dry matter accumulation in bot
h crops was similar in intercropping. However, during the same period,
the mean crop growth rate in cassava was less than a fourth of the me
an crop growth rate in maize. It was concluded that the main factor li
miting total yield in a cassava-maize intercropping system is the depr
ession of early cassava growth by vigorous maize component, which redu
ces the amount of assimilate allocated to cassava roots.