Abstract
Background: The study aimed to move away from the use of pesticides by growing cowpeas and cucumbers together to identify the extent to which it is possible to disrupt the behavior of the insect Lampides boeticus in infesting the two crops as a method of integrated management. to evaluate cowpea-cucumber intercropping under practical IPM field conditions in relation to Lampides boeticus infestation severity, the yields of both component crops and the land equivalent ratio (LER). Methods: Five cropping systems were compared in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with four replications: sole cowpea (T1), sole cucumber (T2) and three intercropping row arrangements (1:1, 2:1 and 1:2 cowpea: cucumber; T3, T4 and T5, respectively). Under the tested field-management conditions, all intercropping systems were associated with significantly lower larval density, pod infestation, holes per pod and damaged-seed proportion than sole cowpea (p≤0.05). Result: Pod infestation declined from 48.0% under sole cowpea to 31.0-37.0% under intercropping. Despite reductions in individual crop yields, all intercropping systems achieved total LER values of 1.51-1.56, confirming a land-use advantage over sole cropping. The 1:1 (T3) and 1:2 (T5) arrangements offered the most favourable balance between pest suppression and land-use efficiency. These results support cowpea-cucumber intercropping as an IPM-compatible cropping strategy for Lampides boeticus in Diyala Governorate, while future pesticide-free or factorial trials are needed to isolate the independent effect of crop arrangement from associated field-management practices.