Enhancing Soil Moisture Conservation and Castor Productivity through Conservation Tillage and Legume Intercropping in Southern Telangana Zone

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during the kharif season of 2021-22 at the Narkhoda research farm, ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, to evaluate the influence of tillage practices and legume intercropping systems on soil moisture conservation, growth, yield and economics of castor under rainfed conditions in the Southern Telangana Zone. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three tillage practices, namely conventional tillage, reduced tillage and zero tillage, as main-plot treatments, and four cropping systems, namely sole castor, castor + redgram, castor + greengram and castor + groundnut, as sub-plot treatments. Reduced tillage produced seed yield statistically on par with conventional tillage, which recorded the highest yield. Among cropping systems, sole castor resulted in the highest seed yield, while the lowest was recorded in castor + redgram; the latter used a replacement series, limiting castor and redgram to 50% population. However, castor + redgram achieved the highest B:C ratio, reflecting the higher sale price of redgram compared with greengram and groundnut, while reduced tillage resulted in the highest B:C ratio due to reduced cultivation cost and substantial seed yield. During the off-season, reduced tillage conserved soil moisture most effectively, followed by zero tillage, with conventional tillage conserving the least. These results indicate that reduced tillage combined with castor + redgram is a viable alternative to conventional tillage and sole cropping for sustaining castor productivity, conserving soil moisture and improving economic efficiency under rainfed conditions in the Southern Telangana Zone.