Abstract
A field experiment was conducted on a sandy-clay loam soil at the agronomic area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad for two consecutive years to evaluate the effect of grain legumes intercropping and the planting patterns on the agronomic traits of sesame. The planting patterns comprised 40 cm spaced single rows, 60 cm spaced 2-row strips and 100 cm spaced 4-row strips while the intercropping systems were sesame + mungbean, sesame + mashbean, sesame + soybean and sesame + cowpea and sesame alone. The various yield components of sesame such as number of capsules plant", seed weight plant", 1OOO-seedweight and plant height were affected significantly by different intercropping systems and planting patterns. Grain legumes intercropping reduced the seed yield of sesame to a significant level by adversely affecting its yield components. However, the additional harvest of each intercrop compensated more than the loss in sesame production. Among the intercropping patterns sesame intercropped with mungbean, mashbean, soybean and cowpea in the pattern of 100 cm spaced 4-row strips proved to be feasible, easily workable and more productive than sesame monocropping. Of the intercropping systems, sesame + mungbean or sesame + mash bean were found to be superior to all other intercropping systems under study. Key words: Agronomic traits, grain legumes, intercropping, planting patterns, sesame, Pakistan
