Productivity and Profitability of Cereal Legume Strip Cropping System In North Western Plains of India

Legume cropping systems are widely recognized for their potential to enhance productivity, improve resource use efficiency and increase farm income under diversified cropping situations. However, the performance of such systems largely depends on the choice of compatible crop combinations and their suitability to different seasons. In many parts of North-Western India, continuous dominance of cereal-based cropping has resulted in stagnation of system productivity and profitability. Therefore, evaluation of season specific cereal-legume strip cropping systems is necessary to identify productive and economically viable cropping options.

A field investigation was carried out during summer (zaid) and kharif of 2024 and 2025 at the Research Farm, Division of Agronomy, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu. The experiment comprised of nine cereal legume strip cropping systems arranged in a randomised block design with three replications. Various combinations of fodder (maize, sorghum and bajra) and legumes (mash, mungbean, cowpea and soybean) were assessed for their effect on yield attributes, equivalent yields and economic returns.

The findings indicated that both productivity and profitability of the cropping systems differed significantly among seasons. Certain cereal legume combinations, particularly those involving mungbean and mash during summer (zaid) and soybean during kharif, consistently produced higher yields and system productivity. These systems also recorded higher gross and net returns along with better benefit cost ratio, thereby proving their economic advantage over the other cropping systems.