Production Potential and Economics of Fingermillet based Intercropping under Organic production System in Alfisols of Karnataka

Field experiment was conducted at University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore with an objective to enhance productivity of fingermillet intercropping in organic systems of production during Kharif 2006 and 2007. Different organic manures at 50 kg N equivalent used in the experiment is farm yard manure (FYM), sewage sludge, poultry manure compost (PMC), urban garbage composts, enriched urban garbage compost and vermi compost (VC) compared to fertilizers alone. Irrigation water was provided during dry spells throughout the crop growth period. Application of sewage sludge (2498 kg/ha) or PMC (2475 kg/ha) produced significantly higher fingermillet grain yield and intercrop pigeonpea yield. Higher benefit cost ratio was recorded with the application of sewage sludge (2.27) and poultry manure compost (2.19) over the rest of the organic sources. The results inferred that application of a cheaper source organic manures like sewage sludge or poultry manure are substitutes for huge quantity of fertilizers applied with the fingermillet production system.