Economics of Various Treatments of Vermicompost on Growth and Yield Attributes of Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Based Intercropping System

Abstract

Intercropping is an ecologically friendly technique that can increase the sustainability of farming systems, whilst considered as low input systems. An experiment was conducted at the vegetable farm, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalrapatan City, Jhalawar during the rabi season from November, 2022 to April 2023. The experiment comprised fifteen treatment combinations having three levels each of vermicompost (0, 2.5, and 5 ton/ha) and five levels of different intercropping system (Sole Pea, Sole Garlic, Pea + Garlic 1:1, 2:1, 2:2) in Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications. The result of the present investigation showed that the effect of vermicompost and intercropping system on individually and combined had significant effect on the economic related attributes. The interaction effect of the Vermicompost and Intercropping system significantly increased the economic attributes such as maximum gross return (361172 ₹ ha-1), net profit (272244 ₹ ha-1) and B:C ratio (4.06) was recorded under treatment V2I5 (Vermicompost @5ton/ha+ Pea+ Garlic 2:2) as compared to other treatment, respectively. The interaction effect of vermicompost and Intercropping system also significantly increased pea equivalent yield (166.040 q/ha), land equivalent ratio (1.25) under treatment V2I5 (Vermicompost@5ton/ha+ Pea+ Garlic 2:2), respectively.