Intercropping Options in Autumn Planted Banana

An experiment was conducted atSoil and Water Management Research Unit, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari to evalute various intercropping options in drip irrigated banana. The treatment A₂ (33% area allocation to intercrops) recorded significant increase in growth attributes and number of fingers/plant as compared to A₁ (25–27% area allocation to intercrops) and A₃ (58–60 area allocation to intercrops). Among the intercrops, the treatment having onion and garlic as intercrop recorded significantly higher growth attributes as compared to cauliflower as intercrop. Allocation of higher area to the intercrop (58–60%) recorded significantly higher banana equivalent yield (106 t/ha) as compared to 25–27% (93 t/ha) and 33% (102 t/ha) areas. Whereas, among intercrops, the highest banana equivalent yield was recorded under the treatment involving onion (107 t/ha) as intercrop over the rest of the treatments. The highest net realization (Rs. 604128) was recorded under treatment combination of A₃ with onion. Whereas, the highest BCR ratio (3.19) was recorded under the treatment combination of A₂ area with onion as intercrop.