Effect of intercropping with spice crops on the growth, yield and quality of gladiolus under agroclimatic conditions of Prayagraj

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate the effect of Spice crops viz. leek, Garlic, Onion, as intercrops on the growth, yield and quality of gladiolus. The experiment was conducted at the experimental field, Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj (U.P.) during 2022-2024. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design, and the study consists of 7 treatments with three replications. From the present investigation, it was concluded that the intercrops significantly affected the performance of gladiolus (growth to yield). The intercropping combinations the treatment T6- Gladiolus + Garlic was found in superior in terms of number of leaves, plant height, number of shoots, days of spike initiation, rachis length, length of spike, number of florets per spike, floret diameter, weight of corms, weight of cormlets per plant corm, yield of corms per hectare, yield of cormlets, vase life. Among the different treatments, the highest gross return, net return and benefit cost ratio is also under the treatment T6- Gladiolus + Garlic.