Edward et al Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 2 (8), pp.398-405, December 2012 ISSN: 2276-7770 Research Paper Manuscript Number:110712239 Effect of spacing and cutting management on survival, growth and biomass production of Moringa oleifera intercropped with maize on-farm at Gairo inland plateau, Morogoro in Tanzania Ezekiel Edward, Shabani A.O. Chamshama, Yonika M. Ngaga and Mathew A. Mndolwa Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3010, Morogoro, Tanzania Tanzania Forestry Research Institute, P. O. Box 95, Lushoto, Tanzania. Corresponding Author’s Email: mathewmndolwa @ yahoo.com Abstract: A study was carried out at Gairo, Tanzania to determine appropriate planting spacing and cutting management for optimising maize yield without jeorpadising the potential of Moringa oleifera to produce sufficient biomass. Two trials (on-farm spacing-intercropping and on-farm pollarding height-intercropping) were laid out using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Assessments were done at tree ages of 6, 12, and18 for the spacing trial and at tree ages of 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months for the pollarding trial. Grain weights were measured on a yearly basis (seasons). Plot means for all response variables were subjected to standard Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and significant means were separated by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Results for the spacing trial showed that, overall all growth parameters increased significantly with spacing, and tree growth was generally higher in monoculture compared to intercropped plots. During the last assessment, foliar and stem biomass ranged from 571.57 kg/ha for maize+150cm pollarding height to 682.15 kg/ha for maize+50 cm pollarding height and from 181.72 kg/ha for 150 cm pollarding height to 254.29 kg/ha for maize+100 cm pollarding height respectively. Moringa intercropping is recommended to be done only during the first cropping season, due to severe competition thereafter. Keywords: Moringa, Gairo, pollarding, maize Return to Content View Reprint (PDF) (212KB)