View article

In the tropics, weeds cause more crop losses and farmers spend more of their time weeding crops than in any other part of the world. Weeds form a major factor which contributes to the miserable quality of life of smallholder farmers, especially of women and children, in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. The effects of maize-pumpkin and maize-bean intercropping and, narrow row planting and precise basal fertilizer placement in monocrop maize, on crop and weed radiation interception (RI), crop yields, weed emergence, growth and fecundity were investigated in this study. The effects of leaf stripping (removal of the lowest 2-6 leaves) and detasselling maize at anthesis on the radiant environment and crop yields in a maize monocrop and maize-pumpkin and maize-bean intercrops were also studied to determine the impact of these interventions on yield of component crops. The aim of the studies was to generate …