2024, Vol. 7, Special Issue 7

author(s)
Kamalkumaran PR, M Anand and M Velmurugan

abstract
Root and tuber crops are important food crops that are climate resilient. Dioscorea species (yams) are most valuable food security crops that sustain many livelihoods in the tropics and subtropics. The high cost of producing yam discourages farmers from increasing areas cropped with yam. The high production cost arises mainly from the cost of planting material (seed yam), the cost of stakes and a high labour requirement. The main objective of the study was to assess the effect of staking and intercropping on productivity and net economic return of greater yam in yam based cropping system. The greater yam was raised as sole crop (with and without staking) and intercropped with maize, cumbu and pigeon pea at 1:3 Ratio. The greater yam recorded maximum yield in sole crop with staking individual plants (38.25 t/ha) eventually tap more light to give a higher yield than sole, unstaked yam (29.49 t/ha). Based on the highest Land Equivalent Ratio (1.68), Income Equivalent Ration (1.79), Yam Equivalent Yield (38.59 t/ha) and Bnefit cost ratio (3.36), intercropping unstaked greater yam with maize in 1:3 Ratio was recorded as the best cropping system which reduces the cost of staking and labour requirement.