Feasibility of Different Vegetable Crops as Intercrop in Sandalwood
H. H. Sitapara
Department of Horticulture, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat), India.
N. I. Shah
College of Horticulture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat), India.
K. D. Rathod *
Department of Horticulture, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat), India.
D. M. Dabhi
Department of Horticulture, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat), India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A long-standing agricultural practice, intercropping involves growing two or more crops on the same piece of land at the same time in order to optimise the growth resources available. The study aims to evaluate the influence of vegetables as an intercrop on the growth and yield of sandalwood using a Randomised Block Design with five treatments. Different vegetable intercrops were taken as a treatment i.e., (T1) Indian bean (Rabi) + Cow pea (Summer), (T2) French bean (Winter) + Cluster bean (Summer), (T3) Turmeric, (T4) Pigeon pea and (T6) Control (Sandal wood sole) which were grown in their growing season at appropriate distance. All treatments were replicated four times. Among the different vegetable intercrops, maximum incremental stem girth (July to December and January to June), incremental plant height (July to December and January to June), total incremental stem girth, total incremental plant height, sandalwood yield, total crop equivalent yield and the highest benefit cost ratio were recorded with sandalwood as a main crop with T4 i.e. pigeon pea as a vegetable intercrop.
Keywords: Intercrop, sandalwood, pigeon pea, Agro-forestry, crop equivalent yield