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Abstract
Two plantain production experiments were conducted from 1989 to 1992 at Corozal, P.R. to determine the effect of tillage practice and relay intercropping regimes on yield of the cultivar Maricongo (Musa acuminata jr M. balbisiana ). The first experiment used a planting distance of 1.8 χ 1.8 m and the second experiment 3.1 χ 1.5 m. Two tillage practices were included: conventional tillage and no tillage. There were no significant differences in the plant crop yield (P<0.05) among the treatments for the first and second experiments. However, in the first experiment, the conventional tillage treatment outyielded the one of the no-till, relay crop treatments introduced when the plant crop was 9-month old with regard to the relay crop yield. In the second experiment there was no relay crop yield difference between the conventional tillage treatment and any of the no-till, relay crop treatments. The highest net income for the first experiment was the no-till, relay crop treatment introduced when the plant crop was 17-month old ($ 3,692/ha). The highest net income for the second experiment was found to be the same treatment again as in the first experiment ($934/ha).