MAXIMIZING PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH MAIZE AND BUSHBEAN INTERCROPPING IN THE HILL VALLEYS OF BANDARBAN

URL: http://www.ijbssr.com/10.55706/ijbssr12101

Intercropping is based on the idea that two or more crop species can use natural resources better together than if grown separately. A field experiment was undertaken to investigate the performance and economic advantages of intercropping Bushbean with Maize in Bakichara hill valleys of Bandarban during the rabi season of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Three treatments viz. Sole Maize, Sole Bushbean, and Maize+Bushbean were used for the experiment. The aggregated data from a two-year study revealed that the maize and bushbean intercropping system did not significantly influence the yield and its associated attributes of maize. However, it exerted a significant influence on the productivity of bushbean in comparison to the production of bushbean as a sole crop. The intercropping combination exhibited considerably better values for the benefit cost ratio (BCR) (5.11), gross return (487750 Tk. ha-¹), net return (392250 Tk. ha^-1), LER (1.62), ATER (1.51) and maize equivalent yield (19.51 t ha^-1) compared to sole crops.