EVALUATION OF SUNFLOWER-SOYBEAN INTERCROPPING PATTERNS FOR GRAIN YIELD AND PLANT HEIGHT

Abstract

Intercropping is an effective strategy for improving land-use efficiency and total system productivity by enabling complementary resource use among component crops. A field experiment was conducted during the 2022 growing season at the Research Area of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Sub-campus Depalpur, District Okara, Pakistan, to evaluate the effect of different sunflower–soybean intercropping patterns on the growth and yield of both crops. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. It comprised eight treatments, including sole sunflower, sole soybean, and six sunflower–soybean row arrangements (1:1, 1:2, and 1:3) established under both simultaneous and 30-day relay sowing of soybean. Results showed that the cropping pattern had a highly significant effect on grain yield and plant height of both crops. The 1:1 simultaneous sowing pattern (T3) produced the highest achene yield of sunflower (1669.33 kg ha⁻¹) and the highest seed yield of soybean (1351.67 kg ha⁻¹), surpassing their respective sole cropping treatments. Sunflower plant height was greatest under sole cropping (T1, 136.71 cm) and was statistically comparable to T3 (134.04 cm), while soybean plant height was greatest under T3 (87.98 cm). Wider row ratios (1:2, 1:3) and relay sowing generally reduced yield and plant height in both crops, most notably under the 1:1 relay-sown pattern (T6), which produced the lowest soybean plant height. These findings indicate that the 1:1 row ratio under simultaneous sowing offers the most favorable balance of complementary resource use between sunflower and soybean and represents the optimum intercropping pattern for maximizing productivity of both crops under the agro-climatic conditions of Depalpur, Punjab, Pakistan