Assessment of Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) Based Intercropping System under Varying Planting Patterns

Abstract

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.), one of the main grain legume crops grown in tropical and subtropical countries, is mostly grown under rainfed conditions. After chickpea, pigeonpea is India's second most significant crop in terms of area and yield. It makes up 23 per cent of all pulse production (3.33 million tons) and 1.76 per cent of the nation's gross planted land (3.88 million hectares). When grown as a lone crop, pigeonpea is not a highly efficient crop Willey et al., 1980 due to its low harvest index and delayed start growth rate. It is therefore grown as an intercrop, helping to increase productivity and profit by making efficient use of available resources. The field experiment was conducted at the Rajola Farm, Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalay Chitrakoot, Satna, Madhya Pradesh-4853 (M.P.) during the kharif season of 2014. In the treatments, cropping patterns and intercropping systems could be combined in seven different ways. The experiment was set up using a randomized block design with three replications. Our study revealed that in all intercrop cropping systems, the pigeonpea equivalent yield (PEY), LER, and ATER were significantly higher than under the pigeonpea sole system. PEY was found to be significantly maximum under T6: PP + Sesame alternate row (20.75 q ha-1) followed by T7: PP + Sesame paired row planting (19.54 q ha-1) and T4: PP + BG alternate row (19.51 q ha-1). However, LER and ATER were calculated significantly higher under T4: PP + BG alternate row (1.74 and 1.32, respectively), T2: PP + GG alternate row (1.73 and 1.31, respectively) and T6: PP + Sesame alternate row (1.71 and 1.29, respectively). The lowest values of PEY, LER, and ATER were found under pigeonpea sole system.