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COTTON-LEGUMES INTERCROPPING TECHNOLOGY

Farmers can intercrop cotton with mungbean, cowpea, peanut or soybean. With this technology, farmers can produce cotton and protein-rich legumes at the same time in the same field.

Intercropping cotton with mungbean, cowpea, peanut or soybean has several advantages. The scheme does not reduce seedcotton yield. Instead it increases income per unit area because two crops are planted at the same time. Moreover, legumes also enrich soil fertility. Because no crop is displaced, the scheme can be included easily into the existing cropping pattern.

Land Preparation

• Plow and harrow the field twice or thrice.
• You can also rotavate the field once or twice.
• Construct double rows for cotton at a distance of 120-140 cm between major rows and 60 cm between minor rows.
• Construct two shallower furrows for the legumes intercrop at 40-50 cm apart btween the major cotton rows.

Seed Treatment

• Before planting, soak the cotton and legume seeds separately in fungicide solution for 6-10 hours.
• Drain the seed and place them in a warm moist place for not more than 12 hours.
• If available, treat legume seed with Rhizobium inoculant.

Basal Fertilizer Application

• Apply four bags 14-14-14 fertilizer per hectare if the area is deficient with potassium.
• Otherwise, apply three bags 16-20-0 per hectare.
• Spread the fertilizer evenly along the furrows.

Planting

• Drop three to four cottonseeds per hill in the furrows (120-140 cm x 60 cm) at a distance of 25 cm between hills.
• Cover the seeds and fertilizer with fine soil.
• Plant legume seeds along the shallow furrows at a seeding rate of 20-25 seeds per linear meter.
• Cover the seeds with fine soil.

Replanting and Thinning.

• Replant missing hills at 10-22 days and 7 days after planting (DAP) fo cotton and legumes, respectively.
• Thin cotton plants within 14-27 DAP, leaving two plants per hil.
• If there is a missing hill, leave three plants in the adjacent hill.
• Thin also the legume intercrop at 14 DAP, leaving 18-20 plants per linear meter.

Sidedressing/Intertillage Cultivation

• At 42-47 DAP, sidedress the cotton plants with 2.5 bags Urea per hectare.
• Apply the fertilizer in band 3-5 cm away fro the plant base.
• Hill-up immediately to cover the fertilizer.

Irrigation

• Irrigate just after planting if the soil is dry.
• Irrigate after sidedressing.
• Irrigate also when the plants exhibit mid-day wilting or the soil is dry.
• Irrigate using furrow irrigation or hose method depending on the source of water.

Harvesting

• Harvest matured legume intercrop.
• Harvest seedcotton thrice when about 33, 66, and 100% of the total bolls have flossed.
• Place harvested seedcotton in flour sacks, jute sacks, bamboo/rattan baskets or large pails. Never use polypropylene sacks.

Post-harvest Practices

• Sundry the legume pods for at least three days to facilitate shelling.
• If necessary, sundry again the pods before storing them.
• Sundry seedcotton for at least three days then pack them in jute sacks.
• After harvesting seedcotton, uproot and burn all plant debris.
• Or, rotavate/plow under all plant debris in the field.

Marketing

• Seedcotton is sold to private companies operating in the area.
• Legume harvests can be sold in the market or consumed by the family.

Economic Advantage

• Net income from sale of seedcotton is about PhP11,426 per hectare.
• Farmers get an additional income from legume intercrop: 44.4% from peanut, 59.27% from cowpea, 57.13% from mungbean, and 54.29% from soybean.