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Evaluation of maize-based intercropping on runoff, soil loss, and yield in foothills of the Indian sub-Himalayas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2021

Rajeev Ranjan Open the ORCID record for Rajeev Ranjan [Opens in a new window] ,
N.K. Sharma ,
Ambrish Kumar ,
Monalisha Pramanik ,
Harsh Mehta ,
P.R Ojasvi  and
R.S. Yadav
Rajeev Ranjan*
Affiliation:
Division of Agricultural Physics, ICAR – Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India Soil Science and Agronomy Division, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Datia, Madhya Pradesh, 475661, India
N.K. Sharma
Affiliation:
Soil Science and Agronomy Division, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, 218, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248195, India
Ambrish Kumar
Affiliation:
Hydrology and Engineering Division, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, 218, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248195, India College of Agricultural Engineering, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India
Monalisha Pramanik
Affiliation:
Hydrology and Engineering Division, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Datia, Madhya Pradesh, 475661, India
Harsh Mehta
Affiliation:
Plant Science Division, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, 218, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248195, India
P.R Ojasvi
Affiliation:
Hydrology and Engineering Division, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, 218, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248195, India
R.S. Yadav
Affiliation:
Soil Science and Agronomy Division, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Datia, Madhya Pradesh, 475661, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: rajeev4571@gmail.com
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Summary

Soil and nutrients losses due to soil erosion are detrimental to crop production, especially in the hilly terrains. An experiment was carried out in three consecutive cropping seasons (2012–2015) with four treatments: sole maize; sole maize with plastic mulch; maize and cowpea under plastic mulching; and maize and soybean under plastic mulching in randomized block design (RBD) to assess their impact on productivity, profitability, and resource (rainwater, soil, and NPK nutrients) conservation in the Indian sub-Himalayan region. The plot size was 9 × 8.1 m with 2% slope, and runoff and soil loss were measured using a multi-slot devisor. The results showed that mean runoff decreased from 356 mm in sole maize with plastic mulch plots to 229 mm in maize + cowpea intercropping with plastic mulch, representing a reduction of 36% and corresponding soil loss reduction was 41% (from 9.4 to 5.5 t ha−1). The eroded soil exported a considerable amount of nitrogen (N) (13.2–31.4 kg ha−1), phosphorous (P) (0.5–1.7 kg ha−1), and potassium (K) (9.9–15.6 kg ha−1) and was consistently lower in maize + cowpea intercropping. The maize equivalent yield (MEY) was significantly higher in maize + cowpea with plastic mulch intercropping than the other treatments. These results justify the need to adopt maize with alternate legume intercrops and plastic mulch. This strategy must be done in a way guaranteeing high yield stability to the smallholder farmers of the Indian sub-Himalayan region.

Keywords

IntercroppingRunoffSoil erosion
Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 69 - 84
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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