Table 2. Biomass and grain yields (kg/ha) of intercropped maize and faba bean with and without root barriers under field conditions (Field Study 2)


Crop Solid barrier Mesh barrier No barrier F(2,30) P

Grain yield
    Maize 5,311b 5,341b 6,722a 20.32 <0.0001
    Faba bean 4,176b 4,392b 5,527a 10.81 0.0003
Above-ground biomass
    Maize 12,560b 12,525b 15,783a 21.04 <0.0001
    Faba bean 9,873c 11,027ab 12,468a 6.10 0.006

Values for grain yield are averages of all inoculations with rhizobium (two treatments), mycorrhiza (two treatments), and with four replicates (n = 16), because there was no significant response to the inoculations. Values in the same row followed by different superscript letters are significantly different (P < 0.05).