Productivity and profitability analysis of cauliflower as sole and intercropping with red amaranth and radish leafy vegetable

Abstract

By using natural resources and agricultural inputs more effectively, intercropping is a desirable technique to boost crop output and economic return. The present study was conducted to figure out the most lucrative crop mix for an intercropping system of cauliflower with red amaranth and radish leafy vegetable. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used to set up the experiment. Treatments included nine different cropping systems, including sole cauliflower, sole red amaranth, sole radish leafy vegetable, cauliflower-red amaranth intercropping (1:1), cauliflower-leafy radish intercropping (1:1), cauliflower-red amaranth-leafy radish intercropping (1:1:1), cauliflower-red amaranth-leafy radish intercropping (2:1:1), cauliflower-red amaranth-leafy radish intercropping (1:2:1) and cauliflower-red amaranth-leafy radish intercropping (1:1:2) Productivity parameters of three intercrops (cauliflower-red amaranth-leafy radish) were collected and measured based on their yield and yield contributing traits in different stages of their growth upto the final harvest. And equivalent yield and land ratio along with benefit cost ratio were analyzed to check their profitability. Result illustrated that cauliflower, red amaranth and leafy radish produced the highest yield of 25.4, 13.5 and 18.6 tha-1, respectively when cultivated as a sole crop. However, when all of the three vegetables were grown as intercropping in different cropping system, cauliflower with red amaranth and leafy radish (1:1:1) produced the highest yield (33.2 tha-1) followed by cauliflower-red amaranth-radish intercropping (1:2:1) and cauliflower-red amaranth-radish intercropping (2:1:1) with the yield of 30.0 t ha-1 and 29.8 tha-1. After assessing the productivity and economic return, cauliflower with red amaranth and leafy radish (1:1:1) obtained the highest gross return (997102 Tk ha-1) and net return (512102 Tk ha-1) using the highest land equivalent ratio (2.0) followed by 900900 Tk ha-1 and 435900 Tk ha-1, respectively in the cropping system cauliflower-red amaranth-radish intercropping (1:2:1). The present study concluded that intercropping leafy vegetables (red amaranth and leafy radish) and cauliflower boosted overall productivity and economic return more than sole intercropping cauliflower.