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Soil Water Balance of Intercropped Maize and Cowpea Grown in a Tropical Hydromorphic Soil in Western Nigeria¹

Water-use efficiency (WUE) and soil water extraction by four maize (Zea mays L.)/cowpea (Vigna unguiculata Walp.) cropping patterns were studied in a tropical hydromorphic soil over two consecutive growing seasons in 1983 and 1984. The cropping patterns used were: monocropped cowpea (T₁), monocropped maize (T₂, intercropped maize and cowpea planted in the same row as alternate plants (T₃), and intercropped maize and cowpea planted in alternate rows (T₄). Evapotranspiration (E₃) was calculated from the soil water balance. Soil water extraction was limited to the surface 0.35 m of the profile due to the restriction of roots by a gravel layer at this depth. Upward water flux into the root zone was negligible due to low hydraulic conductivity. All cropping patterns were subjected to drought stress in 1983. Mean runoff and net water flux in the root zone in 1983 and 1984 were 2.4 and 0.04%, respectively, and 1.4 and 0.4%, respectively, of the seasonal rainfall. Intercropping increased seasonal WUE. The WUE (kg grain per mm water per ha) of T₂, T₂, T₃, and T₄ were 0.5, 2.2, 1.6, and 1.6, respectively, for the droughty conditions in 1983 and were 2.1, 2.1, 4.2, and 3.6, respectively, for the favorable moisture regime in 1984. One of the benefits of intercropping maize and cowpea is, therefore, a higher WUE in relation to monocropping provided soil water is not limiting

Key Words: Intercropping • Soil water extraction • Wateruse efficiency • Zea mays L. • Vigna unguiculata Walp

² Soil physicists, Farming Systems Program, Int. Inst. of Trop. Agric.

Present address of the senior author is: Soil-water Management Agronomist, IITA/SAFGRAD Project, B.P. 1783, Ouagadougou, Burkina-Fasso.

Received for publication January 10, 1985.