Evaluation of Row Intercropping on Insect Pests and Yield of Sesamum Indicum in Ilorin

Row intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field with a row arrangement with the aim of reducing the insect/mite pest populations because of the diversity of the crops grown. Field plot experiment was conducted to study the effect of row intercropping Sesamum indicum and Ceratotheca sesamoides (cv. Gogoro) on the infestation by Antigastra catalaunalis Endl., Apanteles syleptae and Plusia acuta. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design. There were five treatments with each replicated three times. The treatments were namely sole crop S. indicum, sole crop C. sesamoides (cv. Gogoro), intercrop 1:1 (1 row of S. indicum: 1 row of C. sesamoides (cv. Gogoro), intercrop 2:1 (2 row of S. indicum: 1 row of C. sesamoides (cv. Gogoro), intercrop 1:2 (1 row of S. indicum: 2 row of C. sesamoides (cv. Gogoro). There was no application of insecticides to the treatments. Counting of selected insects was done three times a week. The crops were harvested 8 weeks after planting for analysis of the yield using ANOVA and the land equivalent ratio (LER). The highest mean number of A. catalaunalis was recorded on sole crop S. indicum (1.9) and the least mean number of A. catalaunalis was on C. sesamoides (1.3). Intercrop 2:1 gave the highest reduction in pest number among the three different intercropping patterns. It also had the highest LER value of 4.47 implying that the intercropped area was more productive than the monoculture.