Effect of mixed farming on farm productivity and income in Kandi areas of North-Western plains

An on-farm study was carried out during the rainy season (kharif) of 2015 to the winter season (rabi) of 201718 at Samba District of Jammu region to assess the effect of mixed farming production systems on the farm productivity and income. The study indicated enhanced growth of citrus (Citrus sp.) along with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) grown as intercrops. The increase in fruit yield of citrus after interventions was recorded to the tune of 22, 23 and 24% during first, second and third year of study, respectively, over that before the study. Among all the production systems, fruit yield increased significantly owing to intercrops and it was the maximum (4.92 t/ha) with the citrus associated with the intercropping of wheat and Indian mustard during rabi 2017–18. The highest benefit: cost ratio (6.04) was obtained with citrus trees. Maize (Zea mays L.)-wheat-fruit-goat was noticed highly profitable production system which fetched highest net returns of 210,327.0 and system profitability of 576/ha/day followed by pearlmillet (Cenchrus americanus)-wheat-fruit-goat system. The maximum employment generation (146 days) was recorded with maize-wheat-fruit-goat followed by pearlmillet-wheat-fruit-goat (125 days) production systems.