Evaluation of natural farming practices in maize-wheat cropping system
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Date
2024
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Punjab Agricultural University
Abstract
The present study entitled, “Evaluation of natural farming practices in maize-wheat cropping system” was conducted at School of Organic Farming, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during kharif and rabi seasons of 2022-23. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam with medium organic carbon and low in available nitrogen while high in phosphorus and potassium. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design with six treatments and four replications. The treatments comprised of Unfertilized control, Complete natural farming package without weeding (NF), Organic management, Integrated crop management (ICM) + biopesticides, Integrated crop management (ICM) + pesticides and Chemical management. During pre-kharif, green manuring was done with dhaincha in unfertilized control, organic management and ICM+pesticides whereas in NF and ICM+biopesticides green manuring was done with multivariate cropping (MVC) viz. pearlmillet, sorghum, cowpea, greengram, marigold, clusterbean, sesame, sesbania and sunhemp. Intercropping with cowpea (additive series) and chickpea (replacement series) in maize and wheat, respectively was done in all the treatments except chemical management. In NF, organic management and ICM+biopesticides trap crop okra and marigold were sown in maize and wheat, respectively. The significantly highest growth, yield and yield attributes of maize and wheat were recorded with chemical management. However, in maize it was statistically at par with ICM+ pesticides. NF resulted in 41.9 and 27.3% lower grain yields in maize and 68.4 and 58.4% in wheat than chemical management and organic management, respectively. The significantly higher yield of cowpea fodder was recorded with ICM+pesticides but was statistically at par with ICM+biopesticides. In chickpea, ICM+pesticides resulted in significantly higher seed yield of chickpea but was statistically at par with ICM+biopesticides. ICM+pesticides recorded significantly higher maize equivalent cowpea fodder yield, total maize equivalent yield, wheat equivalent chickpea seed yield and total wheat equivalent yield but was statistically at par with ICM+biopesticides. Significantly higher total maize equivalent yield of the cropping system with premium on organic produce was recorded with organic management but was statistically at par with ICM+pesticides. However, without premium, it was significantly higher with ICM+pesticides and was statistically at par with ICM+biopesticides. Among the organic treatments, the significantly highest higher total maize equivalent yield of the cropping system with and without premium on organic produce was recorded with organic management as compared to unfertilized control and NF. In both the crops, grain quality and NPK uptake (grain and stover/straw) were found to be significantly lower under NF as compared to chemical management, ICM and organic management. The different physico-chemical properties of soil did not differ significantly with various crop management practices due to only one year of experimentation. The significantly higher microbial populations and enzymatic activities were recorded with ICM+biopesticdes and the lowest with chemical management. With on-farm inputs, the highest net returns and B:C ratio were recorded with organic management in both maize and wheat. However, with off-farm inputs, the highest net returns were recorded with ICM+pesticides in wheat and maize-wheat cropping system. However, the higher B:C ratio was recorded with chemical management in wheat and maize-wheat cropping system.
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Mahey, Harsh Kumar (2024). Evaluation of natural farming practices in maize-wheat cropping system (Unpublished M.Sc. thesis). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.