Effect of Intercropping Cowpea with Sorghum on Yield and Land Use Efficiency in Gombe State

Intercropping legumes with cereals is a traditional yield stabilisation and resource use efficiency practice in the Sudan savanna, and evaluating different intercropping arrangements for cowpea-sorghum systems in Gombe State provides important data for productivity improvement in the region. This study examined the effect of three intercropping arrangements (sole sorghum, sole cowpea, and sorghum-cowpea intercrop at 1:2 row ratio) on the yield of each component crop and the land equivalent ratio in Kaltungo LGA, Gombe State, North East Nigeria. A randomised complete block design with three replications was conducted during the 2023 rainy season using SAMSORG 17 sorghum and IT90K-277-2 cowpea. Sorghum grain yield, cowpea grain yield, and combined land equivalent ratio were calculated. Results showed that the sorghum-cowpea intercrop produced sorghum grain yield of 2.43 tonnes per hectare (versus 3.14 t ha-1 in sole sorghum) and cowpea yield of 0.61 t ha-1 (versus 0.94 t ha-1 in sole cowpea). The calculated land equivalent ratio of 1.48 indicated a 48 percent advantage in land use efficiency for the intercrop over sole crops. Total economic return per hectare was highest for the intercrop combination when prevailing market prices were applied. The study concludes that sorghum-cowpea intercropping significantly improves land use efficiency and economic returns in Gombe State farming conditions and recommends it as a productivity and risk management strategy for resource-limited smallholder farmers in the region.

Keywords: intercropping, sorghum, cowpea, land equivalent ratio, Gombe State