Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Division of Agronomy, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi 1100 12, India. ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248 195, India.
2
Division of Agronomy, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi 1100 12, India.
3
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248 195, India.
Abstract
Of the several mechanisms that can bring about efficient resource use, the most widelyapplicable one is intercropping systems that can make better use of resources. The aim of this
study was to evaluate resource capture and resource use efficiency in transgenic cotton-peanut
intercropping system and in their respective sole crops with using 25-50% substitution of
recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) of cotton through farmyard manure (FYM) along with
100 % RDN through urea and control (0N). Apparent crop water productivity, nutrient use
efficiency, economic returns and modern intercropping indices (system productivity index,
actual yield loss, intercropping advantage index, nitrogen stress factor, etc.) were measured for
making better understanding of resource use efficiency. Comparisons of intercropped peanut
with sole peanut were emphasized because of shrinking area of peanut in the south-east Asian
region represents a threat to agricultural system sustainability. Cotton + peanut intercropping
system resulted in improved water productivity (19%), nutrient use efficiency (15-20%) and
monetary advantage index (16,709) as measured with modern tools of intercropping indices
compared with sole crops of cotton and peanut. Peanut cultivated as sole crop attained the least
resource productivity in terms of apparent crop water productivity (0.71 kg m-3), nutrient use
efficiency (4.47 kg grain kg N-1) and total factor productivity (0.07). Among fertility levels,
substitution of 25% RDN of cotton through FYM maintained higher apparent crop water
productivity (17%), monetary advantage index (6%), system productivity index (9%) and
nutrient use efficiencies (15-17%) over 100% RDN through urea only. This work provides basis
for efficient resource use by peanut intercropping with cotton which simultaneously enhances
domestic oilseed production and reduce import load of cooking oil without sacrificing the
productivity of main crop of cotton in India and other cotton growing countries of the world.
Keywords
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