Evaluation of Intercropping and Permaculture Farming System for Control of Striga asiatica in Maize, Central Malawi

抄録

Field trials on permaculture system and intercropping of maize with legumes were conducted during the long rainy seasons (December–May) of 2009 to 2011 at Dowa and Chitedze Agricultural Research Centre in Malawi, respectively, to evaluate the effect of the systems in reducing Striga asiatica incidence. There were five treatments in intercropping (maize intercropped with common bean, pigeon pea, cowpea, soybean and groundnut) and permaculture (maize planted in the same plot with soybean, bambara bean, cotton, pigeon pea and marigold) laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. Sole maize was sown as a control in each farming system. The result showed all maize-legume intercrop plots had lower Striga counts than sole planted maize. Maize-cowpea intercrop indicated a significantly reduced Striga infestation up to 50% in maize in both years. The combined data analysis of maize-legume intercropping, however, showed there was no significant difference in grain yield of maize due to treatments. Maize supported significantly fewer number of Striga in the permaculture cropping system compared with the sole sown maize. There was higher yield of maize in permaculture than monoculture by 28.3%. This study confirmed the potential in cowpea as a food trap intercrop and permaculture as a cropping system in the management of Striga, which should be incorporated in cropping systems in subsistence farmers’ fields.