In a field study the biological efficiency of intercropping in direct-seeded upland rice was determined at the
University of Agriculture Faisalabad for two consecutive years. The intercropping systems comprised rice alone,
rice + maize, rice + sesbania, rice + mungbean and rice + pigeonpea. The rice was seeded in 75cm spaced 4 -
row strips (15/75 cm) while the intercrops as forage were seeded on the vacant spaces between the rice strips.
The rice grain yield was decreased to a significant level by the forage intercrops compared to monocropped rice
which varied from 10.94 to 25.87 %, with the maximum (25.87 %) by sesbania followed by pigeon pea (16.67)
against the minimum (10.94 %) by maize intercrop. In terms of total rice grain yield equivalent (TRGYE), the
highest TRGYE (6.45 tha-1) was recorded for rice + forage maize intercropping system followed by rice + cowpea
(5.08 t ha-1 ) and rice + sesbania (4.92 t ha-1) against the minimum (4.02 tha-1 ) for monocropped rice clearly
indicating yield advantages of intercropping over monocropping of rice. By contrast, the grain quality of rice was
not affected significantly by different intercrops.
