Effect of set-furrow method of cultivation in pigeonpea + greengram intercropping system in medium deep black soil under rainfed conditions*

A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Gulbarga (North Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka) on medium deep black soil during kharif seasons of 2005 and 2006 to assess the performance of pigeonpea intercropping systems with greengram under different row proportions under set-furrow cultivation. The treatment consists of pigeonpea and greengram in sole stand as well as intercropping systems under set-furrow as well as flat bed method of land configuration. Application of vermicompost in set-furrows significantly increased the soil moisture content at sowing and at all the growth stages of pigeonpea. The intercropping of pigeonpea with greengram under different row proportions as influenced by setfurrow land configurations significantly increased the moisture content when compared to flat bed system. Application of vermicompost in set-furrows significantly increased the water stable aggregates, per cent pore space, maximum water holding capacity and infiltration rate as compared to flat bed system. The pigeonpea + greengram (1:2) intercropping system under set-furrow with vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 recorded significantly higher seed yield (16.85 q ha-1) and stalk yield (36.57 q ha-1) as compared to flat bed method (13.58 and 29.60 q ha-1, respectively).Pigeonpea + greengram (1:2) intercropping system under set-furrow with application of vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 recorded significantly higher WUE (2.99 kg ha-1 mm), pigeonpea equivalent yield (24.60 q ha-1), LER (1.96) and ATER (1.55) over other intercropping systems. The pigeonpea + greengram (1:2) intercropping system under set-furrow recorded significantly higher net returns (` 36,916 ha-1) and benefit cost ratio (3.11) over sole crop of pigeonpea (` 19,474 ha-1 and 2.06, respectively).