Effect of Intercropping with Leafy Vegetables on the Growth, Yield and Quality of Gladiolus Under Agro-Climatic Conditions of Prayagraj

Abstract

Intercropping brings diversity of species in the cropping systems and is considered to make them more resilient against environmental stresses. It can significantly enhance the efficient use of land, water and solar energy besides assuring insurance against failure of one or the other crops. Therefore, an attempt was made to include leafy vegetable crops as intercrops in gladiolus cv. Novalux, for higher productivity and profitability per unit area. The experiment consists of seven treatments with three replications. From the present investigation, it was concluded that the intercrops significantly affected the performance of gladiolus. The intercropping combination T6: Gladiolus + Fenugreek gave the best results in terms of  plant height (91.40 cm), number of leaves per plant (18.53), number of shoots per corm (4.93), days to spike initiation (64.33), spike length (73.93 cm), rachis length (49.47 cm), number of florets per spike (12.93), floret size (11.27), vase life (18.53 days), weight of corms (63.67g) and cormlets (6.77g), yield of corms (2385.00kg/ha) and cormlets (225.50kg/ha). The herbage yield per plot was recorded the highest in T3: Fenugreek sole (880.00. g), and intercropping combination of Gladiolus and fenugreek (T6) gave 665.83g.  Based on the recent findings, intercropping of fenugreek with gladiolus can be recommended and expanded on a larger scale for additional yield.