Comparative Assessment of Growth, Yield and Land Use Efficiency in Maize-Soybean Intercropping with Sole Cropping Systems

Abstract

 Intercropping is widely recognized as an efficient land use strategy to enhance the 
productivity and resource utilization compared with sole cropping. A 2-year (2023 and 2024) field 
experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of maize-soybean intercropping system as 
compared to sole cropping systems. The experiment was laid out in randomize complete block 
design with four treatments is that sole maize, sole soybean, 2:2 maize: soybean and 4:4 maize: 
soybean strips, replicated thrice and standard agronomic practices were also followed. Results 
indicated that 4:4 maize: soybean strips treatment consistently enhanced plant height and yield 
component of maize where sole soybean produced the maximum pod per plant and 1000 seed 
weight. In terms of grain yield, sole maze performed best in 2023, while 2:2 maize: soybean strips 
were performed the highest yield in 2024. Soybean yield was significantly greater in sole cropping 
compared with intercropping treatments improved overall land productivity. The highest LER 
values (1.59 in 2023 and 1.62 in 2024) were achieved in the 4:4 maize: soybean strips system 
indicating significant advantages of intercropping over mono-cropping It is concluded that maize
soybean intercropping, particularly with a 4:4 ridge arrangement, enhances resource-use efficiency 
and land productivity, and can therefore be recommended as a sustainable cropping system under 
the agro-climatic conditions of Faisalabad, Pakistan.