PRODUCTIVITY AND ECONOMICS OF CERTIFIED ORGANIC BABYCORN (Zea mays L.) AS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT FORM OF ORGANIC MANURE AND INTERCROPPING WITH PULSES

ABDUL WAHAB HEKMAT¹*, ABRAHAM THOMAS², AHMADULLAH JOYAN³, MANOJ KUMAR⁴, MOHAMMAD AMIN AHMADZAI^5
1Department of Agronomy, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Allahabad, 211 007, Uttar Pradesh, India
²Department of Agronomy, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Allahabad, 211 007, Uttar Pradesh, India
³Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Paktia University, Gardiz, Afghanistan
⁴Department of Agronomy, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Allahabad, 211 007, Uttar Pradesh, India
⁵Department of Soil Science, Northwest A&F Science, Xian, China
* Corresponding Author : wahabhekmat@gmail.com

Received : 03-06-2018     Accepted : 12-11-2018     Published : 15-11-2018
Volume : 10     Issue : 21       Pages : 7468 - 7471
Int J Agr Sci 10.21 (2018):7468-7471

Keywords : FYM, Poultry manure, Goat manure, Intercropping, Productivity, Babycorn
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Author are thankful to Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Allahabad, 211 007, Uttar Pradesh, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

A field experiments were conducted during zaid seasons of 2014 and 2015 to study the influence of intercropping and organic nutrient management practices on growth, yield, quality, nutrient status of the soil and nutrient uptake of babycorn under certified organic production system. Short duration intercrops [greengram (Vigna radiata L.) and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.)] along with control (no intercrop) were taken in main plot. Different sources of organic manure and their combination [goat manure at the rate of 4.8 t ha-1 (M1), poultry manure at the rate of 4.62 t ha-1 (M2), FYM at the rate of 24 t ha-1 (M3), goat manure + poultry manure (M4), goat manure + FYM (M5) and poultry manure + FYM (M6)] were assigned to sub plot in a split plot design. The experiment was replicated thrice. Result of the experiment revealed that cob yield of babycorn was improved by a margin of 6.25 and 4.01 percent in association with clusterbean and greengram, respectively over sole babycorn. Besides, a bonus yield of 1106 and 757 kg ha-1 of clusterbean and greengram was obtained. Among the manurial treatments application of poultry manure at the rate of 4.62 t ha-1 increase cob yield by 13.55% as compared to FYM alone. Babycorn in intercropping with clusterbean and greengram increased benefit cost ratio by 63.07 and 54.61 per cent over sole crop. Application of goat manure and poultry manure increased net return and benefit cost ratio by 76.17 and 89.78 per cent and 32.82 and 32.06 per cent respectively over FYM. Among the manurial treatments, treatments M2 obtained the highest benefit cost ratio (1.73, 1.72 and 1.73) during both the years and mean value of two years.

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