Soil nutrient balance and economic viability of maize and field bean intercropping system as influenced by different nutrient management and row proportion

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2012 at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, VC Farm, Mandya with maize + field bean intercropping system with different row proportion and nutrient management practices in factorial RCBD with three replications and 12 treatments. The observations on soil nutrient, plant uptake for nutrient balance and prevailing prices for economics were considered. The results revealed that the net returns (Rs 138911/ha) and B:C ratio (5.08) were superior in maize + field bean in 4:1 row proportion with SSNM. Total nutrient uptake (231.28 kg/ha nitrogen, 60.92 kg/ha phosphorous and 159.61 kg/ha potassium) and nutrient balance of NPK were also found superior in maize + field bean in 4:1 row proportion with SSNM.