Intercropping of Maize and French Bean- A Review

The basic concept of intercropping is that two or more crop species intercropped can exploit the environment better than each of the component species grown separately. Intercropping of French bean in maize did not affect the yield of maize significantly compared to sole maize. While French bean yield was reduced significantly in intercropping. French bean had greater radiation use efficiency in intercropping than in sole cropping. Here intercropping increased production per unit area per unit time without affecting the production of main crop to a greater extent. All the maize/legume intercroppings were having significantly higher LER (1.31 to 1.81), maize equivalent yield (67 to 140q/ha), net return (Rs10,000 to 17,000/ha) and B:C ratio than the sole maize.