ABSTRACT
The experiment was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture Experimental Site (Latitude 06° 23׳ 53.16״ and 06° 23׳ 58.668״ and Longitude 005° 37׳ 39.7194״ and 005° 37׳ 40.53״). It was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three levels of same treatment (sole maize, sole kidney bean and maize/ kidney bean intercrop) which was replicated three times. The experiment was carried out to determine the physical and chemical properties of the soil under maize - kidney bean intercrop and the agronomic performance of maize and kidney bean in both sole cropping and intercropping. Data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. The Data collected were number of leaves, plant height/ vine length(cm), stem girth(cm), weight of fresh pod/ear per plant in Kg and weight of ear/pod in tonnes/hectares (Plant parameters) and their mean were determined and recorded. Others are Soil pH, Total organic carbon, Total Nitrogen, Available Phosphorus, Potassium(k), Calcium(Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium(Na), Sand, Silt and Clay, e.t.c.
The Results obtained for the physical and chemical properties of soil showed that there were no significant difference (P=0.05) in the physical properties of the soil (Sand, Silt and Clay) and the chemical properties of the soil did not differ significantly (P=0.05) except Total Nitrogen and Potassium (K). The Total organic carbon increased in value with the intercropped plot having a value of 14.53% and sole kidney bean having a value of 14.10% while sole maize had a value of 12.91%. Maize and Kidney bean in intercrop were also high compared to that of sole maize and sole Kidney bean. Maize intercrop had a weight of 3.56 t/ha and sole maize had a weight of 3.01 t/ha while Kidney bean intercrop had a weight of 1.20 t/ha and sole kidney bean had a weight of 0.90 t/ha. Though intercropping produced higher yields, it did not have significant effect on soil and plant parameters measured.
