Light interception pattern of fodder trees intercropped with soybean and safflower in malnad region of Karnataka

Fodder tree plantation was established at 5 x 3 m spacing in 2014 with seven fodder tree species viz., 1. Calliandra calothyrsus, 2. Albizia lebbeck, 3. Leucaena leucocephala, 4. Sesbania grandiflora, 5. Gliricidia sepium, 6. Moringa oleifera and 7. Bauhinia purpurea. The height of pollarding fodder tree species was maintained at 2 m. The soybean and safflower intercrops were sown in the interspaces of fodder tree species in kharif and rabi season. The experiment was conducted with Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Light transmission ratio among the fodder tree based agroforestry systems was observed in the system Albizia lebbeck + soybean (82.73, 67.03 and 63.77 %) followed by the combination of Calliandra calothyrsus + Soybean (74.40, 65.77 and 59.77 %) at 20, 40 DAS and at harvest respectively. Whereas among fodder tree based agroforestry systems with safflower crop, maximum light transmission ratio was found in T6 - Moringa oleifera + Safflower (85.33, 72.57 and 64.60 %) followed by the treatment T2 - Albizia lebbeck + Safflower (75.87, 72.13 and 62.97 %) at 20, 40 DAS and at harvest respectively.