PRODUCTIVITY OF TOMATO / CELOSIA INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA

For two consecutive years 1996 and 1997, eight elite tomato varieties of contrasting growth habits viz (‘FSD 1’, ‘FSD 3’, FSD 4’, ‘FSD 5’, ‘FSD 6’, ‘FSD 7’, ‘UC-82B’ and ‘Roman-VF’) were intercropped with Celosia argentea cv. ‘TLV8’ at Ibadan, Southern Nigeria. The experiment was laid out as a split-plot fitted into a randomized complete block with three replications. Cropping system (sole cropping and inter-cropping) was assigned to the main plots while the tomato varieties were the sub plots. Results showed that inter-cropping Celosia with tomato significantly reduced tomato fruit yields. There were significant varietal differences in fruit yield. ‘FSD 7’ produced the highest fruit yield while Roman-VF produced the lowest for both years. The productivity of the systems assessed by the land Equivalent Ratios (LER) showed that ‘FSD 3’ and ‘FSD 1’ both short statured, early maturing and determinate varieties had the highest LER. From the results of this study, tomato could be intercropped with Celosia with the choice of suitable varieties and appropriate cutting frequencies for Celosia.