Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges &
Opportunities during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
may lead to higher profit, may act as crop insurance against adverse weather conditions,
meeting the diversification of crops and maximizing land use efficiency through efficient use
of resources like moisture, nutrients and light, stabilizing the yield through risk minimization
of crop failure and reduced pest and disease problems. (Coll et al., 2012), Therefore
Intercropping of rajmah with other crops may be additional advantage for the farmers under
rainfed situations. Considering the fact, the rajmah based intercropping with four rabi crops
(toria, linseed, lentil and buckwheat) was undertaken for evaluation at AICRP for Dryland
Agriculture, BN College of Agriculture, AAU, Biswanath Chariali, Assam for three years
starting from rabi season of 2018-19 to 2020-21.
Methodology
The field experiment was conducted at the experimental field of All India Coordinated
Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, Biswanath College of Agriculture, Biswanath
Chariali, Assam Agricultural University, during the rabi season of 2018-19, 2019-20 and
2020-21 in randomized block design. The texture of the soil of the experimental field was
sandy loam with a pH of 4.98 and organic carbon of 0.58%. The soil was medium in
available nitrogen (330.10 Kg ha -1 ), available phosphorus (23.26 Kg ha -1 ), and available
potassium (171.35 Kg ha -1 ). The rajmah based intercropping was evaluated in a randomized
block design with 13 treatment combinations involving three (3) replication. The treatments
consisted of T 1 - Rajmah Sole, T 2 - Toria Sole, T 3 – Linseed Sole, T 4 – Lentil sole, T 5 –
Buckwheat sole, T6- Rajmah + Toria (1:1), T7 -Rajmah + linseed (1:1), T8 - Rajmah + lentil
(1:1), T 9- Rajmah + buckwheat (1:1),T 10-Rajmah + toria (2:1), T 11- Rajmah+ linseed (2:1),
T12 -Rajmah + lentil(2:1) and T13 - Rajmah + buckwheat (2:1). The individual plot size was 20
m 2 (5m x 4m) and the variety selected for rajmah was ‘Arun’, TS-38 for toria, T-397 for
linseed, KLS-218 for lentil, and local variety for buckwheat. The seed rate of rajmah, toria,
linseed, lentil, and buckwheat were 75 kg ha -1 , 10 kg ha -1 , 20 kg ha -1 , 30 kg ha -1 , and 20 kg
ha -1 respectively. The experimental plot was ploughed by tractor-drawn plough followed by
harrowing and laddering. Rows were prepared for sowing manually at 30cm and plant-toplant
distance was kept at 10cm. The fertilizer was applied as per recommendation of the
package of practices of Assam in terms of Urea, SSP, and MOP. The crops were sown in the
field within second to third week of each year. Weekly meteorological data in standard
meteorological week (SMW) during the period of experimentation was collected at the
meteorological observatory of the department of agricultural meteorology, Biswanath College
of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Biswanath Chariali. The yield of the
intercrops was converted to rajmah equivalent and comparison among the intercropping
systems were made accordingly.
Results
190 | Page
Ecosystem based approaches for climate change adaptation, ecosystem services, integrated farming system models,
Land degradation neutrality