Intercropping Withcassava Proceedings of an International Workshop Held Attrivandrum, India, 27 Nov-I Dec1978 Ectors: Ecward Webec Barry \Estel Anc Ariyn Campdeh
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Intercropping WithCassava Proceedings of an international workshop held atTrivandrum, India, 27 Nov-i Dec1978 Ectors: Ecward Webec Barry \esteL anc ariyn CampDeH ARCHIV 38421 IDRC-142e The International Development Research Centre is a public corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to support research designed to adapt science and technology to the needs of developing countries. The Centre's activity is concentrated in five sectors: agriculture, food and nutrition sciences; health sciences; information sciences; social sciences; and communications. IDRC is financed solely by the Government of Canada; its policies, however, are set by an international Board of Governors. The Centre's headquarters are in Ottawa, Canada. Regional offices are located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. © 1979 International Development Research Centre Postal Address: Box 8500, Ottawa, Canada K1G 3H9 Head Office: 60 Queen Street, Ottawa Weber, E. Nestel, B. Campbell, M. IDRC, Ottawa, CA Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Trivandrum, IN IDRC-142e Intercropping with cassava : proceedings of an international workshop held at Trivandrum, India, 27 Nov-i Dec 1978. Ottawa, Ont. IDRC, 1979. 144 p.: ill. /IDRC publication!, !conference paper!, !cassava!, /intercropping!, !crop diversification!, !agricultural research!, /research centres!, !Latin America/, !Asia!, !Africa/ - !agricultural management!, !plant protection!, /soil fertility!, /economic aspects!, !CIAT!, !IRRI/, !agricultural statistics!, bibliography. UDC: 631.584:635.23 ISBN: 0-88936-231-9 Microfiche edition available IDRC- 142e Intercropping with Cassava Proceedings of an international workshop held at Trivandrum, India, 27 Nov-i Dec 1978 Editors: Edward Weber,' Barry Nestel,2 and Marilyn Campbell3 Cosponsored by the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (Indian Council for Agricultural Research) and the International Development Research Centre 1Senior Program Officer, Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Sciences Division. IDRC. 2Consultant to the AFNS Division of IDRC. 3Communications Division, IDRC. Contents Foreword Edward Weber and Barry Nestel 5 Multiple cropping cassava and field beans: status of present work at the International Centre of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) M. Thung and J.H. Cock 7 Intercropping with cassava in Central America Raüf A. Moreno and Robert D. Hart 17 Cassava intercropping in Brazil Marcio Carvaiho Marques Porto, Pedro Alves de Almeida, Pedro Luiz Pires de Mattos, and Raymundo Fonséca Souza 25 Intercropping systems with cassava in Kerala State, India C.R. Mohan Kumar and N. Hrishi 31 Cassava intercropping patterns and management practices in Indonesia Suryatna Effendi 35 Cassava intercropping patterns and management practices at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India C.R. Muthukrishnan and S. Thamburaj 37 Cassava intercropping patterns and practices in Malaysia W.Y. Chew 43 Intercropping with cassava in Africa W. N. 0. Ezeilo 49 Cassava and cassava-based intercrop systems in Thailand Sophon Sinthuprama 57 Cassava intercropping research: agroclimatic and biological interactions H.G. Zandstra 67 Soil fertility implications of cropping patterns and practices for cassava Jerry L. McIntosh and Suryatna Effendi 77 Agroeconomic considerations in cassava intercropping research J.C. Flinn 87 Agronomic implications of cassavalegume intercropping systems Dietrich E. Leihner 103 Crop protection implications of cassava intercropping RaülA.Moreno 113 Discussion summary 129 Bibliography 133 Participants 141 2 Crop Protection Implications of Cassava Intercropping Raül A. Moreno Centro Agronórnico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CA TIE), Turrialba, Costa Rica It has been cited repeatedly (Janzen 1973; Igboz- crop residues, shifting cultivation, rotation, and the wike 1971; and Hoidridge 1959) that tropical agro- cultivation of mixtures of varieties contribute to ecosystems with mixed stand populations are more achieve a certain degree of sanitary stability. Severe stable than monocultures, although this belief can parasite damage is in general terms rare in subsis- be refuted with several exceptions, notably sugartence production systems. As the farm becomes cane (Robinson 1976). Outbreaks of insect pests larger and the resource base more diversified, the and/or plant pathogens constitute one of the mostcassava-based production systems become more important factors contributing to the unbalance of market-oriented and cassava monoculture becomes a plant community in the tropics. prevalent. The management of these market-oriented The search for integrated pest management meth-production systems implies the use of pesticides al- ods has led to a series of entomological studies and though cassava is still considered a safe crop as com- theoretical discussions related to the influence of the pared to other tropical crops. composition of the plant community on the com- Small-scale agriculture has not received attention position of the insect populations. Some of these from researchers until recently; consequently data studies have been recently conducted under tropical on these mixed cropped production systems have conditions (Risch 1977). However, this information just begun to accumulate. is still not enough to provide a basis for designing Information about cassava diseases was generally new, more stable production systems for differentlacking (CIAT 1970) but has improved notably in tropical conditions. recent years (Lozano and Booth 1974). However, Information on the influence of mixed plantquantitatively epidemiological studies are few populations on the plant pathogen community com-(Lozano and Sequeira 1974) and most of these eval- position in the tropics is greatly lacking. Botanicaluated the reaction of different cultivars to certain epidemic development in most plant communitiescassava pathogens (CIAT 1975). of mixed genotypes has been studied mostly in tem- Information about botanical epidemics on cassava perate regions with horticultural crops (Berger 1973, intercropped with other crops was unavailable to the 1975) and more thoroughly discussed in cereals author and as a consequence, this paper is based (Krantz l968a, b, and 1974). Studies of botanical largely on Central American data on plant pathogens epidemic dynamics to interpret the hostpathogen- attacking cassava cultivated in pure and mixed environment system in its tridimensional magnitude stands and on the possible influence of cassava on are recent in plant pathology. Because tropical eco- the disease development of other crops that are inter- systems are generally more complex than temperate cropped with cassava. Most of the information has ecosystems and there are more plant diseases in the been obtained during the last 4 years by my former tropics than in temperate regions (Weilman 1969), graduate students, colleagues, and field assistants the study of botanical epidemics in the tropics isof CATIE. complex and needs a more integrated systems approach (Robinson 1976). Cassava, like other food crops, is intercropped by Influence of Intercropping on small farmers to minimize production risk involved Cassava Disease Development in "reduced scale" agriculture. These close to sub- sistence food crops production systems are culti- Larios and Moreno (1976, 1977) conducted one vated with the minimum of cash expenditure on pest of the most comprehensive studies on the influence and pathogen control. Intercropping, the burning of of intercropped species on the development of cas- 113 sava diseases. In this work the incidence and sever- Very susceptible cultivars display a necrotic reac- ity of several cassava diseases were studied in dif-tion. In Turrialba, both incidence (I) and severity ferent cropping systems (Fig. 1). Species, varieties(S) of this disease were positively correlated to de- of plant components, and planting distances in everyviations (frequency and amplitude) below the average cropping system are summarized in Table I. Inci- temperature (21.1 °C) and below average daily rel- dence (%) is the number of infected units andative humidity (88.79%). Significant and negative severity is the affected area (%) estimated accordingcorrelations between I and S and both average daily to previously calculated scales. The concepts of in-precipitation and 24-h periods with more than 5 mm cidence and severity have been previously discussedof rain, also were found. I and S decreased propor- by James and Shih (1973). Disease developmenttionally as the number of leaves per plant increased. was evaluated approximately every 20 days from theAs this disease attacks mainly the lower leaves, same 16 cassava plants randomly selected from 90when more foliage is produced either the relative m2 plots. humidity reaches levels inappropriate for pathogen development or the intercepted amount of light in- Cassava Powdery Mildew (Oidium manihotis P.creases to critical levels for both the pathogen and Henn) the persistence of lower leaves. Figure 2AE shows that peaks in both I and S curves coincide with the 0. manihotis attacks mainly the lower leaves of"dry period" at Turrialba (February and March susceptible cassava cultivars and produces a typicalmainly) when water tension reaches negative values yellowing on the attacked surface (Drumond 1946).(Amézquita 1974). Immediately after this period, either the growth of the host surpasses the devel- opment of the pathogen or the microenvironmental CA SSA VA conditions become inappropriate for the pathogen. Maxima values of leaf