Estimating Forage Yield and Nutritive Value of Maize-Legume Intercropping Systems in Paddy Fields During Summer

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the forage yield and nutritive value of maize–legume intercropping systems in non-cultivating paddy fields. The fields were sprayed with 210 kg ha-1 of nitrogen composite fertilizer [NPK (21-17-17)] before seeding. Maize cv. ‘32P75’ was simultaneously cultivated with two cultivars of soybean (‘Chookdu 1’ and ‘Chookdu 2’) and lablab (cv. ‘Rongai’) from 2018 to 2019 at the National Institute of Animal Science, Cheonan, Republic of Korea. After seeding, pendimethalin herbicide was sprayed on the fields, and soil and plant parameters, including soil chemical composition, plant characteristics, productivity, and feed values, were estimated. The soil in the intercropping treatments had higher nitrogen content and P2O5 utilization rate than the maize monoculture. The productivity [dry matter yield (DMY) and total digestible nutrients] of the fields under the intercropping and monoculture treatments during 2018 were not significantly different. However, the field productivity of the intercropping treatments during 2019 were remarkably higher than that of the maize monoculture; the productivity of M × S1 field was the highest (p p < 0.05). In addition, the feed value, except crude protein content, of the treatment with intercropped lablab was higher than that with the maize monocrop. Thus, these findings provide an insight into the role of alternative cropping in improving the forage yield of paddy fields.