Assessment of coconut (Cocos nucifera) + bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) intercropping system
KV Malshe, SM Wankhede and SL Ghavale
The field trial was conducted in the rabi season of 2022-23 at Regional Coconut Research Station, Bhatye, Ratnagiri to assess the performance of coconut + bitter gourd intercropping system. For conducting the experiment, 30 years old coconut plantation (Variety West Coast Tall) was selected and the bitter gourd was grown as intercrop in two rows at 2.5 m distance from palm and the distance between two successive hills was 1.0 m. The both the sole crops were also grown separately by following recommended management practices. The highest yield of bitter gourd (1.958 t/ha) was recorded in sole crop while least yield (1.779 q/ha) was in intercrop grown in coconut. The yield coconut coconut + was 17027.5 nuts/ha/year and 16940 nuts/ha/year in intecropping system and sole crop, respectively. The land equivalent ratio (LER) was 1.91 in coconut + bitter gourd intercropping system.
