Effects of forage legumes intercropping on maize yield, nutrient uptake, and soil properties in southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Intercropping forage legumes with maize ( Zea mays L.) could be a potential source of animal feed in mixed crop–livestock systems without affecting the yield of staple cereal crops in smallholder farming systems. However, information on this topic remains limited in southern Ethiopia. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted over two growing seasons (2020–2021) to evaluate the effects of intercropping two forage legumes, cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata (L.) and lablab ( Lablab purpureus L.), with maize in single (1:1) and double‐row (1:2) arrangements on maize productivity, nutrient uptake, and selected soil properties compared with maize monoculture. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that forage legume intercropping, including cowpea or lablab with maize, resulted in an average 10% increase in maize grain yield compared with maize monoculture. Maize intercropped with cowpea in 1:1 and 1:2 row arrangements produced significantly higher grain yields than maize intercropped with lablab in the same row arrangements. However, intercropping forage legumes with maize had no significant influence on soil properties, possibly due to the short duration of the experiment. This study's findings suggest that intercropping maize with cowpea in both row arrangements is the most productive and economically feasible system. The present study shows that incorporating forage legumes into crop–livestock mixed farming systems is important for resource‐poor farmers, as it can provide improved fodder production to fill the feed gap during the dry season without affecting maize grain production on the same piece of land.