Intercropping of banana with food crops: cowpeas, maize and sweet potato

Abstract

Intercropping of bananas affected the hands per bunch, fingers per bunch and finger weight significantly, but not the bunch weight. The associated growth of intercrop significantly reduced the girth of the pseudostem at five months after planting and increased days to shooting and days to harvesting of the banana. The yield differences within cowpeas and sweet potato were non-significant due to cropping systems; but maize inter· planted with cowpeas yielded 16.5% higher than with sweet potato.