Production Potential of Rice-based Cropping System under Different Nutrient Management Practices

Background: The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop. The continuous application of inorganic fertilizers even in balanced form may not sustain soil fertility and productivity. However judicious use of chemical fertilizers in combination with organic manure is required to improve the soil health as well as to achieve sustainable crop production. Thus balanced fertilization and cropping system offers a great scope for increasing the productivity. Methods: A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2019 and 2020 in the experimental farm, Department of Agronomy, Nagaland University, SAS, Medziphema campus to study the effect of cropping system and nutrient management practices on production potential of rice-based cropping system. The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with factorial concept with 3 replications. The treatment consisted of five cropping systems and three nutrient management practices. Result: The result revealed that among intercropping system, rice + soybean (3:1) cropping system recorded highest plant height (cm), number of leaves plant-1, number of panicles m-2, grain yield, straw yield and rice equivalent yield. Among different nutrient management practices, application of 75% RDF + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 + biofertilizer consortium @ 20 g kg-1 seed recorded significantly higher plant height (cm), number of leaves plant-1, number of panicles m-2, panicle length, grain yield and straw yield.