Bangladesh Agron. J. 2025, 28(1): 29-34 INTERCROPPING OF SUMMER ONION WITH MUKHIKACHU M. A. H. Khan1*, M. Rahman2, T. Husna2, S. Akther1, M. J. Islam3 1Agronomy Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur 2Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Cumilla 3Upazila Agriculture Office, Barura, Cumilla *Corresponding author, Email: ayubagronomy@yahoo.com (Received: 14 October 2025, Accepted: 21 November 2025) Keywords: Intercrop, mukhikachu, summer onion Abstract An experiment was conducted at the research field of Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Cumilla during Kharif I, 2022 to find out the suitable combination of onion with mukhikachu for increasing total productivity, economic return and maximize land utilization through intercropping system. Seven treatments viz., i) Sole mukhikachu ii) Two rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iii) Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iv) Two rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu v) Three rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu vi) Sole summer onion. The trial was set up in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The unit plot size was 3.0 m × 2.70 m. The mukhikachu was (Var. BARI Mukhikachu-1) a main crop and onion (Var. BARI Peaz-5) were used as intercrops in the study. The sole crop of mukhikachu was planted at a spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm, the sole crop of onion at a spacing of 15 cm × 10 cm. Results showed that, different intercropping combination significantly influenced yield and yield contributing characters of mukhikachu. The yield of mukhikachu was comparatively lower in intercropping than sole mukhikachu but total productivity was increased due to additional yield of onion. Increased total productivity in terms of mukhikachu equivalent yield (MEY) was 38.72-42.28 t ha−1 in intercrop combination compared to sole mukhikachu 31.70 t ha−1 (main crop). All the intercropping combinations showed better performance in terms of mukhikachu equivalent yield, gross return and benefit cost ratio (BCR) over sole crops. Among the intercropping combinations three rows of onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu was the most feasible intercropping system in respect of mukhikachu equivalent yield (42.28 t ha−1), gross return (Tk.8,45600), gross margin (Tk. 5,18100) and benefit cost ratio (2.58). Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu (BCR 2.56) and two rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu (BCR 2.51) were also feasible intercrop combination. Introduction Intercropping is a common practice of crop cultivation to increase the productivity per unit area and ensure against total crop failure under aberrant weather condition. It increases total productivity per unit area through maximum utilization of land, labor and growth resources. It also increases land equivalent ratio (LER) to a varying degree (Hossain and Bari, 1996). Successful intercropping system gives higher cash return, total production per hectare and diversifies production system than sole cropping and provides greater resources use efficiency. Yield advantage in intercropping are mainly due to efficient utilization of resources such as light, water and nutrients than respective sole crop (Liu et al., 2006). Other potential benefits of intercropping include high productivity and profitability (Yildirim and Guvence, 2005), increase in soil fertility through nitrogen fixation by addition of leguminous crop in intercropping system (Hauggaard- mailto:ayubagronomy@yahoo.com 30 Khan et al. Nielsen et al., 2001), reducing damage caused by pests, weeds and diseases (Banik et al., 2006), improvement of quality of forage (Barillot et al., 2014) and use of environmental resources efficiently (Eskandari and Ghanbari, 2010). Onion (Allium cepa) is one of the most important spices as well as vegetable crops of Bangladesh. It is widely cultivated during winter season. But now-a-days some onion varieties are also cultivate in summer season. Summer onion cultivation can be a new way to increase the onion production in Bangladesh and make it available throughout the year. Consequently, demand of onion will be met up and employment opportunity will be created. This crop may be harvest within very short time. Onion could be cultivated in between two rows of mukhikachu as an extra or inter-crop. Mukhikachu (Colocasia esculenta var. globulifera L.) is an important edible aroid in Bangladesh as well as in some other countries of the world. It occupies about 80% of the total aroid production in the country (Bhuiyan and Ahmed, 2001). Mukhikachu is rich in vitamin A, C, iron and calcium. In Bangladesh, it comes to market as an important summer vegetable when most of the vegetables are not available. It plays a vital role to meet up the demand of vegetables in the lean period. After plantation, the crop requires six months for shoot growth. Then it declines and cormel growth starts and continues to grow about 2 to 3 months till maturity, in this condition 8-9 months are required for cultivation of mukhikachu. The rate of mukhikachu emergence and subsequent growth are very slow. The emergence starts at 25-30 days after planting and it continues up to 50 to 60 days. Its growth becomes rapid at later stage when soil moisture is sufficient by rainfall. Intercropping of summer onion with mukhikachu is a way to avoid direct competition with other crops and to familiarize its potentiality to the farmers. Summer onion being a short duration (70-80 days) crop can be intercropped easily with long duration (210-280 days) wider spaced mukhikachu. They have also different growth habit and demand for growth resources. The return from intercropping is higher and more profitable than those from the relevant sole crops. So, if mukhikachu and summer onion can be grown as intercrop, the farmers may be benefited economically. The findings on intercropping mukhikachu with summer onion and their suitable ratio is not available. Hence, an experiment was undertaken to find out the suitability of intercropping summer onion with mukhikachu for higher productivity and profitability at varying combinations. Materials and Methods A field experiment has been conducted at research field of Regional Agricultural Research (RARS) Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Cumilla during Kharif I 2022. The treatments were: i) Sole mukhikachu ii) Two rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iii) Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iv) Two rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu v) Three rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu vi) Sole summer onion. BARI Mukhikachu-1 (main crop) and BARI Peas-3 (component crop) were used as variety. The trial was set up in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The unit plot size was 3.0 m × 2.70 m. Sole mukhikachu and intercrop treatments were fertilized with N-P-K-S 96-27-81-18 kg ha-1 respectively. Full amount of PKS was applied as basal. N was applied in two equal splits, one at 20 days after planting (DAP) and another at 45 DAP. The sole crop of normal mukhikachu was planted at a spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm, in case of double rows mukhikachu was planted 55 cm × 20 cm × 45 cm. Mukhikachu was planted on 14 March 2022. Forty days old onion seedling was transplanted on 16 March 2022. The onion seedling was transplanted at a spacing of 15 cm × 10 cm. Irrigation and pesticide were applied as per necessary. Weeding was done at 25, 45 and 60 days after transplanting. Intercropping of summer onion with mukhikachu 31 For, mukhikachu data on yield and yield contributing characters were taken and analyzed statistically. The yield component data of mukhikachu and onion was taken from 10 randomly selected plants prior to harvest from each plot. For mukhikachu and onion at harvest the yield data were recorded plot wise. The collected data were analyzed statistically using statistix 10 package and means were adjudged by LSD at 5% level of probability. Mukhikachu equivalent yield (MEY) was converted by converting yield of intercrops on the basis of market price of individual crop following the formula: Mukhikachu Equivalent Yield = Yield of intercrop Mukhikachu + 𝑌𝑖 ×𝑃𝑖 Price of Mukhikachu Where, Yi = Yield of intercrop (Onion) and Pi = Price of intercrop (Onion). Land equivalent ratio (LER) values were determined from the yield data of the crops by the following equation: LER = 𝑌𝑖𝐶 Y syc + 𝑌𝑖𝑐𝑐 Ysycc Where, Yic= Intercrop yield of Mukhikachu Ysyc = Sole yield of Mukhikachu Yicc = Intercrop yield of component crop (onion) Ysycc = Sole yield of component crop (onion) Results and Discussion Yield and yield attributing characters of Mukhikachu Plant height, number of corm plant−1, corm weight plant−1, number of cormel plant−1, cormel weight plant−1 and yield were significantly influenced due to sole and intercropping onion with mukhikachu (Table 1). The highest plant height (112.33) was obtained from T1 and the lowest (103.33 cm) was found in T2 treatment. The highest number of corm plant−1 (10.8), and cormel plant−1 (30.2) was recorded in (T5) treatment. The highest cormel wt. plant−1 (517.5 g) was obtained from sole mukhikachu (T1) which was statistically similar with T5 (515.0 g) and T4 (512) treatment. The highest yield (31.70 t ha−1) was obtained from T1 treatment and the lowest (28.80 t ha−1) was observed from T2 treatment. Islam et al. (2014) also reported similar result. Table 1. Yield and yield attributes of mukhikachu under sole and intercropping situation during Kharif 2022 Treatments Plant height (cm) Corm plant−1 (no.) Corm weight plant−1 (g) Cormel plant−1 (no.) Cormel weight plant−1 (g) Yield (t ha−1) T1 112.33 8.87 488 29.0 517.5 31.70 T2 103.33 8.13 493 25.4 434.0 28.80 T3 107.27 9.73 507 27.6 468.7 29.20 T4 108.73 10.2 508 29.8 512.0 30.30 T5 108.47 10.8 471 30.2 515.0 31.00 LSD(0.05) 5.3 2.1 NS 3.2 32.7 2.1 CV(%) 8.4 5.6 9.8 11.2 7.5 9.5 i) T1- Sole mukhikachu ii) T2- Two rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iii) T3-Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iv) T4- Two rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu v) T5- Three rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu. 32 Khan et al. Yield and yield attributes of intercrop onion Branch plant−1, bulb height, bulb diameter, single bulb weight and yield were significantly influenced due to sole and intercropping onion (Table 2). The highest branch plant−1 (6.13 cm) was obtained from T6 and the lowest (5.86 cm) was in T5 treatment. The highest bulb height (5.00 cm) was recorded in T3 treatment which was identical to T4, T5 and T6 treatment. The highest bulb diameter (3.70 cm) was obtained from sole onion (T6) which was statistically similar (3.60) with T2 treatment. The highest single bulb weight (24.93 g) was obtained from sole onion (T6) which was statistically similar (23.73) with T4 treatment and the lowest (22.07 g) was recorded in T2 treatment. The highest onion bulb yield (8.38 t ha−1) was obtained from T6 treatment and the lowest (4.96 t ha−1) was achieved from T2 treatment. The highest yield was obtained might have the effect of the highest single bulb weight in sole crop. Islam et al. (2014) also reported similar result. Dahmardeh et al. (2009) also observed that yield of intercropping system is often higher than in sole cropping system. Table 2. Yield of onion under sole and intercropping situation during Kharif I 2022 Treatments Plant height (cm) Branch plant−1 (no.) Bulb height (cm) Bulb diameter (cm) Single bulb weight (g) Yield (t ha−1) T2 37.13 5.93 4.63 3.60 22.07 4.96 T3 35.33 5.93 5.00 3.37 23.00 6.34 T4 35.40 5.93 4.97 3.50 23.73 5.22 T5 37.33 5.86 4.80 3.33 22.27 5.64 T6 39.20 6.13 4.93 3.70 24.93 8.38 LSD(0.05) NS 0.18 0.22 0.10 1.42 - CV(%) 10.5 9.8 8.8 8.7 8.9 5.8 i) T1- Sole mukhikachu ii) T2- Two rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iii) T3 -Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iv) T4- Two rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu v) T5- Three rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu vi) T6 -Sole summer onion. Mukhikachu Equivalent Yield Mukhikachu equivalent yield is expressed in total productivity. Mukhikachu equivalent yield were higher (38.72 - 42.28 t ha−1) in all the intercrops than the sole crop of mukhikachu (31.70 t ha−1) and onion (16.76 t ha−1). In intercrop combination, the highest mukhikachu equivalent yield (42.28 t ha−1) was recorded in T5 treatment (Three rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu) which was followed by (41.88 t ha−1) T3 treatment (Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu) and the lowest mukhikachu equivalent yield (16.76 t ha−1) was obtained from T6 treatment (Sole onion). Ahmed et al. (2013) also reported that intercrop combination increase the equivalent yield. Table 3. Mukhikachu equivalent yield (MEY), Land equivalent ratio (LER) and Cost and return analysis of mukhikachu and onion under sole and intercropping situation at RARS, BARI, Cumilla Treatments MEY (t ha−1) LER Gross return (Tk. ha−1) Cost of production (Tk. ha−1) Gross margin (Tk. ha−1) Benefit cost ratio (BCR) T1 31.70 1.00 634000 275000 359000 2.30 T2 38.72 1.81 774400 325000 449400 2.38 T3 41.88 2.07 837600 327500 510100 2.56 T4 40.74 1.90 814800 325000 489800 2.51 T5 42.28 2.00 845600 327500 518100 2.58 T6 16.76 1.00 335200 165000 170200 2.03 CEY= Chilli equivalent yield; LER= Land equivalent ratio, i) T1- Sole mukhikachu ii) T2-Two rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iii) T3 -Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu iv) T4- Two rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu v) T5- Three rows of summer onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu vi) T6 -Sole summer onion. Intercropping of summer onion with mukhikachu 33 Cost Benefit Analysis Intercropping combination of onion with mukhikachu showed higher monetary return than sole crop (Table 3). The highest gross return (Tk. 8,45600) was recorded from T5 treatment (Three rows of summer, onion in between two double rows of mukhikachu) which was 33.3% higher than the sole mukhikachu. This intercropping combination (T5) also gave the higher gross margin (Tk. 5,18100) and benefit cost ratio (2.58) followed by T3 treatment (Three rows of summer onion in between two rows of mukhikachu) with 2.56 BCR. The results of increased productivity and returns were consistent with the earlier reports of yield advantages of crop mixture compared to monoculture (Islam et al., 2012 and Ahmed et al., 2013). Munir et al. (2004) also observed that higher net income and benefit cost ratio was observed in wheat gram intercropping system. 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