Effect of Maize Plants Distribution and Nitrogen Fertilization Levels in Peanut-Maize Intercrop

TWO FIELD trials were carried out at Ismailia Agricultural ……Research Station, Agricultural Research Center in 2003 and 2004 summer seasons in sandy soil, to study the interaction effect of intercropping patterns, peanut: maize (2:1), (1:1) and (1:2); orientation of maize plants (the shade crop): spacing maize plants at 35cm apart and leaving one plant/hill , spacing maize plants at 70cm apart and leaving two plants/hill and nitrogen fertilizer levels 60, 90 and 120 kg N/fed. Pure stand plots of both peanut and maize were included in each replicate for land equivalent ratio (LER) and net return essays. Treatments were assigned randomly in factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated for four times. Peanut cv. Giza 5 (Main crop – understory crop) was planted on 23^rd and 25^th May in 2003 and 2004 seasons, respectively, whereas maize cv. single cross 10 (Shade crop – overstory crop) was planted on 13^th and 15^th June in 2003 and 2004 seasons, respectively. Peanut was planted with intra spacing of 10cm apart on one side of the ridges with population of 70000 plants/fed when intercropped or in pure stand.
Results revealed that intercropping peanut grown 50% of full maize stand (2.4 plants/m²) in (1:1) pattern under orientated at 70cm apart leaving two plants/hill and adding 120 kg N/fed for the two components resulted in maximum net return of 1851.71 and 2214.95 L.E. with maximum LER of 1.44 and 1.41 in first and second season, respectively.