Productivity and profitability of legumes as influenced by integrated nutrient management with fruit crops under hot arid ecology

A field study was conducted during the rainy seasons of 2008 to 2010 at Bhuj, Gujarat, to assess the possibilities of utilizing the inter-row spaces of fruit orchards of aonla (Embelica officinalis), ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.) and pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) for growing legumes such as clusterbean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.], cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] and mothbean [Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) Marechal] to serve as an additional source of income. The soil was sandy loam with low organic carbon. Among the 3 legumes evaluated, clusterbean performed well with orchards and gave 304, 399 and 315 kg/ha yields under aonla, ber and pomegranate respectively. Highest benefit: cost ratio of 1.83 was obtained with ber + clusterbean system followed by ber + mothbean (1.65). The experiment on nutrient management for the fruit–legume alley cropping system showed that application of 50% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) and zinc sulphate @ 20 kg/ha with biofertilisers resulted in the highest net returns (13,273/ha) and benefit: cost ratio (2.15) in cowpea. Clusterbean as an intercrop with ber gave the highest net returns with RDF which was at par with application of 50% RDF with biofertilizer and zinc sulphate @ 20 kg/ha. The study revealed that the inter-row space in fruit crops may effectively be utilized for getting additional income for better livelihood of small and marginal farmers in hot arid region of Gujarat.