The effect of intercropping of maize: sorghum on grain and forage yield

Conservation of production resources and sustainable agriculture is one of the principles desired by scientists at current period, and intercropping that sustains the production factors and resources can foster the future of agricultural production. This experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with four replications at the Agricultural Research Station of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran during the growing season of 2014-2015. The intercropping system was a replacement type. The proposed cultivars were fodder sorghum (Pegah cultivar) and corn (ksc600). Replacement treatments factors included pure maize cultivation, 75% corn + 25% sorghum, 50% corn + 50% sorghum, 75% corn sorghum + 25% corn and pure sorghum culture. The results showed that the Planting pattern of single cropping sorghum, 75% sorghum + 25% corn and 50% sorghum + 50% corn with 61, 60 and 45 t/ ha yield, respectively, produced greatest sorghum forage yield., and in corn, the single cropping of corn, 75% corn + 25% sorghum and 50% corn + 50% sorghum had the highest grain yield with 8.7, 8.6 and 8.4 t/ ha yield, respectively, but decreased the number of plants per hectare does not follow yield reduction and the yield (gram per plant) reveals this share.