Articles
INCREASING PROFITABILITY OF MANGO (MANGIFERA INDICA L.) ORCHARD THROUGH INTERCROPPING
Article number
1066_18
Pages
151 – 157
Language
English
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of intercrops on the yield of mango cultivar Dashehari with the aim to maximize the production potential and economic returns from mango-based intercropping systems (mono and companion) at the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow.
The treatments under mono-intercropping system were mango alone (control), mango+brinjal (Rajni), mango+bottlegourd (Varad), mango+cauliflower (Girja) and mango+cabbage (Indam 296) under companion intercropping system.
On the basis of the season of cultivation, the intercrops brinjal and bottlegourd were transplanted during March 2010 and cabbage, cauliflower and bottlegourd during November 2010. Cultivation of brinjal as an intercrop in mango orchard recorded significantly highest yield (19.38 t/ha) followed by bottle gourd (13.54 t/ha) than the other intercropping systems.
The lowest yield (8.50 t/ha) was recorded with cabbage as an intercrop.
Intercropping of brinjal also proved beneficial for increasing the yield (4.55 t/ha) of mango by 8.6% compared to control.
The nutritional level of soil in different crop combination also varied with decreasing levels of organic carbon, K, Zn, Cu, manganese and Fe along with elevating the level of these nutrients in cauliflower, cabbage and brinjal crop combination respectively.
The highest monetary return (Rs. 160300/ha) was obtained with brinjal in mango orchard as compared to Rs. 49920/ha in mango sole crop.
Intercropping was effective in sustaining income and employment generation especially during the pre-production phase and off year especially for small and marginal farmers.
Thus, intercropping in mango orchards can help farmers for year round production, employment, reduced cost of cultivation and increase monetary returns besides providing nutritional security.
The treatments under mono-intercropping system were mango alone (control), mango+brinjal (Rajni), mango+bottlegourd (Varad), mango+cauliflower (Girja) and mango+cabbage (Indam 296) under companion intercropping system.
On the basis of the season of cultivation, the intercrops brinjal and bottlegourd were transplanted during March 2010 and cabbage, cauliflower and bottlegourd during November 2010. Cultivation of brinjal as an intercrop in mango orchard recorded significantly highest yield (19.38 t/ha) followed by bottle gourd (13.54 t/ha) than the other intercropping systems.
The lowest yield (8.50 t/ha) was recorded with cabbage as an intercrop.
Intercropping of brinjal also proved beneficial for increasing the yield (4.55 t/ha) of mango by 8.6% compared to control.
The nutritional level of soil in different crop combination also varied with decreasing levels of organic carbon, K, Zn, Cu, manganese and Fe along with elevating the level of these nutrients in cauliflower, cabbage and brinjal crop combination respectively.
The highest monetary return (Rs. 160300/ha) was obtained with brinjal in mango orchard as compared to Rs. 49920/ha in mango sole crop.
Intercropping was effective in sustaining income and employment generation especially during the pre-production phase and off year especially for small and marginal farmers.
Thus, intercropping in mango orchards can help farmers for year round production, employment, reduced cost of cultivation and increase monetary returns besides providing nutritional security.
Publication
Authors
V.K. Singh, Anurag Singh, M. Kumar Soni, K. Singh, Anshuman Singh
Keywords
Mangifera indica, mango, ‘Dashehari’, intercropping, nutritional level, yield
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