Intercropping Studies in Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) (Steud. Wats.)

Lemongrass ( Cymbopogon flexuosus (Steud.) Wats) is a perennial, multicut aromatic grass, which yields an essential oil used in perfumery and pharmaceutical industries and Vitamin A, has a long initial lag phase. To utilize the crop growth resources more efficiently during this phase, studies were made to explore the possibility of intercropping food legumes with lemongrass. An experiment conducted during 1992–93 revealed that the food legumes like blackgram ( Vigna mungo (L) Hepper), cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp) or soybean ( Glycine max (L) Merr.) could be intercropped in the initial stages of lemongrass to get extra yields over and above that of lemongrass, without affecting the yield of lemongrass.