Intercropping, a mix of non-legume and legume crops, can improve crop yield and/or economic returns and reduce input costs. Field experiments (barley-pea intercrop) were conducted in 2008, 2010 and 2011 on an Oskondoga silt loam soil at Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, to determine the effect of intercropping barley (non-legume) and pea (legume) on grain yield, land equivalency ratio (LER), grain quality (protein concentration-PC), N uptake and economic returns. Barley and pea were grown as mono crops and in combinations as intercrops (both in the same row/and alternate rows). Nitrogen fertilizer was applied at 0, 40 and 80 kg·N·ha^-1 to mono crop barley and at 0, 20 and 40 kg·N·ha^-1 to barley-pea intercrop combinations. On an average of three years, application of 80 kg·N·ha^-1 increased grain yield of barley by 846 kg·ha^-1 as a sole crop and by 420 - 488 kg·ha^-1 in the two intercropping combinations. Compared to barley and pea as sole crops, grain yield with barley-pea intercropping was greater by 266 kg·ha^-1 with alternate row combination and by 223 kg·ha^-1when both crops were grown in the same row. The LER values suggested 7% - 17% less land requirement for barley-pea intercropping than sole crops. Net returns from barley-pea intercropping without applied N greatly improved ($854 - $939 ha^-1) compared to barley sole crop with 80 kg·N·ha^-1($628 ha^-1), although the net returns were highest for pea grown as a sole crop without applied N ($1141 ha^-1). For barley as a sole crop, PC in grain increased with applied N. Compared to barley as sole crop with zero-N, PC in barley grain increased when barley was intercropped with pea. In barley-pea intercrop treatments, application of N fertilizer had no significant effect on PC in barley grain, although PC in pea grain was much higher than PC in barley grain. The response trends of total N uptake in grain were similar to grain yield. The findings suggest that pea or barley-pea intercropping could be an option for organic farming systems

Investigations were carried out during 1976-80 on the alkaline alluvial soils of Daurala and Jullundur and on the acid hill soils of Simla and Shillong to study the effect of soaking non-dormant mother seed tubers in a solution of single superphosphate alone and in combination with urea, KC1, gum acacia and agromin (micro-nutrient mixture) on the tuber yield and P economy of the subsequent potato crop. On the alluvial soils, soaking increased the yield of daughter tubers but only on P-deficient soil. Increasing the period of soaking above 6 h and the concentration of superphosphate above 1-5 % in the solution tended to reduce the emergence and tuber yield. On the acid hill soils soaking tubers for 4 h in a solution of 0-5% urea + 1-5% single superphosphate+ 0-2% Dithane M-45 increased the yield of daughter tubers. Inclusion of KC1, agromin or gum acacia in the soaking solution had little effect. The increase in yield due to soaking was produced by an increase in number and size of daughter tubers and was equivalent to about 22 kg P/ha applied to soil.

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A field experiment on an acid soil of Shillong, in 1982 and1983, investigated the comparative performance of Mussoorie rockphosphate (MRP), single superphosphate (SSP) and their combinations for potatoes. MRP, when applied alone, proved much inferior to SSP, on an equal P basis, in tuber characters, tuber yield and nutrients (N, P and K) uptake. Application of SSP together with MRP improved the efficiency of the latter. SSP and MRP combinations in 25:75, 50:50 and 75:25 proportions, on a P basis, were 79-3, 95-8 and 101-2% as effective as SSP in terms of tuber production. The response to P was optimum at 70 kg P/ha with SSP and was linear up to the highest rate (105 kg P/ha) with the combinations of SSP and MRP. Concentration of N in tubers declined with the increasing amounts of P, whereas P and K concentrations were little affected.