National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
An agroforestry experiment was conducted with three and a half year old Jatropha curcas plantation at Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu to find out the optimum spacing of J. curcas for intercropping. The growth characteristics of Jatropha curcas were significantly influenced by different spacings of J. curcas and intercrops. J. curcas recorded highest plant height (310 cm), number of branches (14.66) and crown diameter (342.8 cm) at wider spacing of 4 m x 3 m. Different intercrops also significantly influenced the growth characters of J. curcas. J. curcas at 4 m x 3 m spacing with cowpea recorded the highest plant height (332 cm) and crown diameter (268 cm). The number of branches of J. curcas was also found to be highest at 4 m x 3 m spacing with cowpea (15.7). There was a significant difference in availability of light under different spacings of J. curcas. Maximum light was intercepted at wider spacing of J. curcas (4 m x 3 m), which was 732 x 100 Lux in the morning and 883 x 100 Lux in the afternoon. The study concluded that planting of J. curcas at 4 m x 3 m spacing is beneficial for the growth and development of J. curcasas well as intercrops and legume based intercrops help to increase the growth of J. curcas in agroforestry system.
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