Performance of Baby corn (Zea mays L.) as influenced by weed management and intercropping system under rainfed upland situation of North Bank Plain Zone of Assam

Abstract— A field experiment was conducted during the kharif season (2024-25) at the experimental field of the All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA), Biswanath College of Agriculture, Assam, to evaluate suitable weed management and intercropping systems for baby corn (Zea mays L.) under rainfed upland conditions. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design with six treatments comprising three intercropping systems (I₁: Sole baby corn; I₂: Baby corn + black gram; I₃: Baby corn + green gram) and two weed management methods (W₁: Mechanical weeding; W₂: Integrated weed management—mechanical + chemical), replicated four times. Results indicated that sole baby corn (I₁) recorded the highest baby corn yield (39.08 q ha⁻¹) and green fodder yield (169.76 q ha⁻¹). However, the baby corn + green gram intercropping system (I₃) achieved the highest system equivalent yield (40.95 q ha⁻¹), gross return (₹4,09,497.50 ha⁻¹), net return (₹3,20,609.10 ha⁻¹), and benefit-cost ratio (4.60). Among weed management practices, integrated weed management (W₂) resulted in significantly higher baby corn yield (37.01 q ha⁻¹) and green fodder yield (168.90 q ha⁻¹), along with superior net returns (₹3,17,414.80 ha⁻¹) and B:C ratio (4.95). It is concluded that baby corn intercropped with green gram under integrated weed management is the most productive and economically viable system for rainfed uplands of the North Bank Plain Zone of Assam.