BIOMASS, YIELD AND LAND EQUIVALENT RATIO OF Helianthus annus L. IN SOLE CROP AND INTERCROPPED WITH Phaseolus vulgaris L. IN HIGH VALLEYS OF MEXICO

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to estimate the production of biomass, yield, yield components and land equivalent ratio (LER) of sunflower ‘Victoria' (Helianthus anuuss L.) in sole crop and intercropped with three cultivars of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) ‘Acerado', ‘Criollo' and ‘Michoacán' in two localities of the State of Mexico (El Cerrillo and Montecillo). To estimate the LER, the individual analyses of variance were carried out in each locality for the seed yield of sunflower and bean. In El Cerrillo, the seed yield on the average (306.8 g m-2) surpassed Montecillo by 15.2%. On the average in the both sites, ‘Victoria' (309.9 g m-2) surpassed in seed yield the associations ‘Victoria' + ‘Acerado' (13.0%), ‘Victoria' + ‘Michoacán' (11.5%) and ‘Victoria' + ‘Criollo' (9.2%). All of the intercropping systems showed values of LER higher than 1.67; moreover, the associations ‘Victoria' + ‘Michoacán' and ‘Victoria' + ‘Criollo' presented values of 1.80 at El Cerrillo and Montecillo, respectively, the sunflower intercropped with ‘Michoacán', ‘Criollo' or ‘Acerado' represents a good option for the farmers of the high valleys of State of Mexico.