Crop management:
Maize (Zea mays L.) and cowpea (VignaunguiculataL.) were planted in an intercropping arrangement with 8 and 20 plants m-2, respectively. Planting dates for the cropping seasons 2007 and 2008 were March 5. The experiment was carried out during 2007 and 2008 growing season (Figs 1-3) on a sandy loam soil (Table 1). All phosphorus (150 kg/ha) and potassium (100 kg/ha) and half of nitrogen (50 kg/ha) were applied at sowing while rest of nitrogen was applied at stem elongation stage. All other cultural practices including irrigation, thinning and weeding were kept normal and uniform for all the treatments. The treatment comprising the individual plot size was 7 m × 4 m. Maize variety K.S.C 704 and cowpea variety cv29005 were sown on two years (2007-2008) by hand. Inter-row spacing was 25 and 10 cm in the sole crops of maize and cowpea with a between row spacing of 50 cm. Initially 2-3 seeds were sown per hole. Twenty five days after sowing (25 March), seedlings were thinned to retain one healthy seedling per hole. Three hand weedings were done 20, 30 and 40 DAP.