ASSESSMENT IN TWO BEAN VARIETIES DURING THREE PLANTING SEASONS IN ASSOCIATED CULTURE SYSTEM WITH CORN

Abstract

The objective was to study agronomic development and yield of two bean varieties “Ecuavegetal-2” (EVG-2) and “Pata de paloma”, under intercropped system with “INIAP H-552” hybrid corn through three seed intervals: 16 and 8 days before corn seeding (dbcs) and seeding of beans simultaneously with corn and also to measure productivity using the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) and economic LER of the intercropped systems along with single crops. “Pata de paloma” showed less incidence of diseases, higher number of legumes and number of seeds per plant, although better weight of 100 grains was for “EVG-2”. About seeding dates, better number of legumes was obtained at 8 and 16 dbcs. Intercropped bean recorded better yield components averages than single crops. The yield (kg ha-1) at 16 and 8 dbcs, did not present significant differences. Intercropped corn was not affected either by bean varieties or seeding dates. LER and economic LER analyses show higher coefficients for intercropped systems especially when bean was planted at 16 y 8 dbcs, higher LER coefficients were found when “Pata de paloma” was intercropped with “INIAP H-552” at 16 and 8 dbcs and higher REI coefficients were registered when “EVG-2” was intercropped with “INIAP H-552” at 8 and 16 dbcs.