Introduction of Food‐Based Cover Crops Reduces Weed Control Frequency, Improves Land Productivity, and Increases Income of Robusta Coffee Farms

Coffee ( Coffea canephora ) takes 2 to 3 years to begin yielding, during which period the young coffee plants do not fully occupy the land. Introduction of fast‐growing food crops during these early stages will help maximize land use, provide early income, improve soil health, reduce weed pressure, and moderate the microclimate. A trial was therefore established at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana in 2013 to evaluate the growth and yield performance of Robusta coffee intercropped with food‐based cover crops. Treatments included manually weeded sole coffee, sole coffee with glyphosate used for weed control, coffee + cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp), coffee + egusi ( Cucumeropsis manii Naudin), coffee + sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas L.), and coffee + pumpkin ( Cucurbita mixtra Pang) intercrops. Data collected on the coffee included trunk diameter and height, lateral development, leaf chlorophyll, and bean yield. The companion crops were assessed for their contribution to income. The results show that intercropping Robusta coffee with cowpea and sweet potato and the use of glyphosate to control weeds on sole coffee reduced the frequency of weed control operations from six to four times per annum. The application of glyphosate supported rapid growth in the trunk diameter and height of coffee plants, subsequently supporting higher bean yields during the early bearing phase. This was not sustainable and reflected in lower coffee bean yields during the residual phase though a 6‐year cumulative bean yield showed no differences between treatments. The cumulative cost was highest in the coffee + pumpkin system (US$8245.59). This system also gave the highest gross revenue (US$24,683.45) and net income (US$16,437.86), increasing net farm income ha −1 by US$6569.61 over 7 years and making it the most productive and economic cropping system among the treatments for coffee cultivation.