Vol. 12, Special Issue 11 (2023)

Author(s):
Megharani, Vilaskumar, Gururaj and Rathod PS

Abstract:
A field experiment was conducted at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Kalaburagi, during the kharif season of 2018-19 to investigate the “Growth, yield and economics of intercrops in pigeon pea as influenced by irrigation levels and cropping systems under drip irrigation”. The experiment employed a split-plot design with three main factors of irrigation levels and four sub-factors of cropping systems, replicated thrice. The results indicated significantly higher growth attributes, including a plant height of 43.53 cm, 3.92 branches per plant, leaf area of 14.93 dm² per plant, LAI of 4.98, and TDMP of 32.13 g per plant at harvest. Furthermore, yield attributes such as 15.28 pods per plant, pod weight of 11.93 g per plant, seed yield of 4.86 g per plant, grain yield of 1575 kg per ha, and haulm yield of 6416 kg per ha were also recorded. The experiment showed that a 75% Crop Water Requirement (CPE) ratio outperformed both 50% and 100% CPE ratios, demonstrating higher gross returns (Rs. 226245 per ha), net returns (Rs. 173435 per ha), and a Benefit-Cost (BC) ratio of 4.29. Among the cropping systems studied, pigeon pea + green gram (1:3) exhibited superior performance, with higher plant height (49.29 cm), leaf area (15.37 dm² per plant), LAI (5.12), TDMP (34.47 g per plant), gross returns (Rs. 252400 per ha), net returns (Rs. 196590 per ha), and a BC ratio of 4.52 compared to pigeon pea + black gram and pigeon pea + soybean.