STUDIES ON OPTIMIZATION OF YIELD  AND RETURNS OF CHILLI  (Capsicum annuum L.) THROUGH  INTERCROPPING AND INTEGRATED  NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

K. USHA KUMARI

STUDIES ON OPTIMIZATION OF YIELD AND RETURNS OF CHILLI (Capsicum annuum L.) THROUGH INTERCROPPING AND INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Date

2018-09-29

Authors

K. USHA KUMARI

Publisher

COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE Dr. Y. S. R. HORTICULTURAL UNIVERSITY VENKATARAMANNAGUDEM, WEST GODAVARI – 534 101

Abstract

The present investigation entitled “Studies on optimization of yield and returns of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) through intercropping and integrated nutrient management practices” was carried out to study the impact of intercropping and integrated nutrient management on growth, yield, quality, nutrient uptake and economics of chilli during late kharif 2015 and 2016 at College of Horticulture, Venkataramannagudem. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with five main plot treatments i.e sole chilli (M0), four intercrops onion (M1), coriander (M2), fenugreek (M3) and marigold (M4) combined with five sub plot treatments viz., 100% RDN through urea (S0), 25% RDN through FYM + 75% RDN through urea (S1), 25% RDN through vermicompost + 75% RDN through urea (S2), 25% RDN through poultry manure + 75% RDN through urea (S3) and 25% RDN through neem cake + 75% RDN through urea (S4), consisting of 25 treatment combinations, replicated thrice. All the intercrops, except marigold, positively influenced the growth, yield, quality and returns of chilli over chilli sole cropping. Chilli + coriander (M2) treatment recorded maximum plant height and leaf chlorophyll content in pooled data (72.92 cm and 60.48 SPAD respectively) at final harvest. Chilli + fenugreek (M3) treatment recorded maximum values for plant spread (134.23 cm), number of primary branches (8.34), number of green chilli fruits per plant (28.69), green fruit weight (3.89g), 100 fruit weight (383.23 g), green chilli yield per plant (112.30 g ), per plot (4.04 kg) per ha yield (25.2 q), the highest number of ripe chilli fruits per plant (192.20), ripe chilli yield per plant (968.58 g), dry chilli yield per plant (6.76 kg) dry chilli yield per ha (52.1 q), highest oleoresin content (11.91 %), the highest N uptake (52.59 kg/ha) and K uptake (34.31 kg/ha), whereas, marigold as intercrop recorded the minimum values for plant growth, yield, quality and nutrient uptake of chilli. Among the intercrops, onion was found more remunerative with the highest gross returns, net returns and B:C ratio (` 6,26,631, ` 4,91,191 and 4.63 respectively). However, the competitive functions like LER, ATER indicated fenugreek and coriander were the better intercrops in chilli with 14% and 12% yield advantage respectively over chilli sole cropping, whereas, onion recorded an advantage of 6% only. Among the INM treatments, combination of organic manures and inorganic fertilizers was found superior over 100% RDN through inorganic form only in terms of growth, yield, quality, nutrient uptake and economic returns. Maximum number of green fruits per plant (28.81), green and ripe fruit weights (4.10 g and 5.02 g respectively), 100 green fruit weight (395.50 g), green and ripe chilli yields per plant (118.26 g and 895.12 g respectively), green and dry chilli yields per plot (4.11 kg and 6.75 kg respectively), green and dry chilli yields per ha (25.7 q and 52 q respectively) were recorded with application of 25% RDN through neem cake + 75% RDN through urea (S4) treatment, whereas, the lowest values for all the parameters were recorded in 100 % RDN through urea (S0) treatment. Among the interactions, chill intercropped with fenugreek and applied with 25% RDN through neem cake + 75% RDN through urea was found superior in terms of growth and yield. It was observed that, in the treatment combination of chilli intercropped with marigold and applied with 25% RDN through neem cake + 75% RDN through urea (M4S4) recorded the maximum cost of cultivation (` 2,58,845) and the minimum value for cost of cultivation was reported in M0S0 (sole chilli + 100% RDN through urea), (` 1,15,440) whereas, the maximum gross and net returns were obtained in chilli + onion and lowest gross returns were obtained in chilli + marigold system irrespective of INM treatments. Among all the treatment combinations, chilli intercropped with onion and applied with 25% RDN through neem cake + 75% RDN through urea (M1S4) recorded the maximum gross and net returns (` 9,96,013, ` 7,88,418 respectively) followed by chilli intercropped with onion + 25% RDN through FYM + 75% RDN through urea (M1S1) (` 8,91,213, `7,39,164 respectively). The minimum gross and net returns were reported in chilli intercropped with marigold and applied with 100% RDN through urea (M4S0) (` 2,59,315, ` 72,625 respectively). It was observed from the data, that the highest B:C ratio was recorded in chilli + onion and the lowest B:C ratio was obtained in chilli + marigold system irrespective of INM treatments. Among all the treatment combinations, chilli intercropped with onion + 25% RDN through FYM + 75% RDN through urea (M1S1) recorded the maximum B:C ratio (5.86) followed by chilli intercropped with onion + 25% RDN through poultry manure + 75% RDN through urea (M1S3) (5.28) whereas, the minimum B:C ratio (1.39) was reported in chilli intercropped with marigold and applied with 100% RDN through urea (M4S0).

Description

1. To study the impact of intercropping on growth, yield, quality and nutrient uptake of chilli. 2. To find out suitable integrated nutrient management practices for better growth, yield, quality and nutrient uptake of chilli. 3. To find out the interaction effect of intercropping and integrated nutrient management on growth, yield, quality and nutrient uptake of chilli. 4. To identify the viable intercrops and integrated nutrient management practices for maximization of yield and economics in chilli.