Yield and nutrient uptake by baby corn as influenced by varied population, vermicompost and intercropping with pulses

Field experiments were conducted at the Annamalai University Experimental Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalainagar, Chidambaram to study the effect of varied population, vermicompost and intercropping on the yield and nutrient uptake of baby corn during kharif and summer 2007. The experiments were laid out in split-split plot design with three main treatments, two sub-treatments and three sub-sub treatments replicated thrice. The experimental results revealed that spacing and fertilizer treatments influenced significantly the nutrient uptake of baby corn. Intercropping systems did not influence the nutrient uptake. Baby corn spaced at 60 x 15 cm recorded higher uptake of N (161.4 and 160.6 kg/ha), P (22.5 and 22.2 kg/ha) and K (184.6 and 184.4 kg/ha), respectively, during kharif and summer 2007 seasons than 45 x 25 cm spacing. Among the three fertilizer treatments, S₂ (recommended NPK + vermicompost @ 5 t/ha) recorded significantly higher N, P and K uptake than S₁ and S₃. Almost similar results were obtained in cob yield of baby corn. The combined effect of baby corn+cowpea intercropping system with spacing of 60 x 15 cm and recommended NPK+vermicompost @ 5 t/ha (C₂M₁S₂) recorded the highest baby corn equivalent yield.