Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on medium black soil at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bijapur (Karnataka) for three rainy seasons from 2009 to 2011 to study the performance of different maturity pigeonpea varieties in pearl millet+pigeonpea (2: 1) intercropping system. There were 11 treatments consisting of six intercropping treatments of pearl millet+pigeonpea in 2: 1 row proportion involving two pearl millet genotypes (GHB-558-hybrid and ICMV-221 a composite variety) and three pigeonpea varieties of different maturity viz., Gullal local (short duration), TS-3R (medium duration) and Asha (long duration). In addition, there were five treatments involving two sole crops of pearl millet and three sole crops of pigeonpea. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications. Mean results of three years (2009, 2010 and 2011) showed that GHB-558 pearl millet hybrid intercropped with medium duration pigeonpea variety TS-3R gave significantly higher grain yield (2452 kg/ha) compared to other treatments, however, it was at par with sole crops of GHB-558 pearl millet hybrid (2402 kg/ha)and ICMV-221 variety (2293 kg/ha). Pigeonpea grain yield decreased significantly due to pearl millet intercropping irrespective of genotypes. Sole crops of medium duration TS-3R and short duration Gullal local pigeonpea varieties were at par recorded significantly higher grain yields (2301 kg/ha each) compared to sole crop of long duration variety Asha (1765 kg/ha) and other treatments in intercropping system. However, sole crop of long duration Asha pigeonpea variety was at par with medium duration TS-3R pigeonpea variety intercropped with GHB-558 pearl millet hybrid (1577 kg/ha), but it was significantly superior to other pigeonpea genotypes intercropped either with GHB-558 pearl millet hybrid or ICMV-221 variety. Pearl millet grain equivalent yield was significantly higher with sole crop of short duration pigeonpea variety Gullal local (9195 kg/ha) compared to other intercropping treatments and sole crop of long duration pigeonpea variety Asha (6974 kg/ha), however, it was at par with sole crop of medium duration pigeonpea variety TS-3R (8945 kg/ha) and the same genotype intercropped with GHB-558 pearl millet hybrid (8778 kg/ha). Net return was significantly higher with sole crop of short duration pigeonpea variety Gullal local (Rs. 52694/ha) compared to sole crop of long duration pigeonpea variety Asha (Rs. 35273/ha) and other pearl millet and pigeonpea intercropping treatments, however, it was at par with sole crop of medium duration pigeonpea variety TS-3R (Rs.52566/ha) and the same genotype intercropped with GHB-558 pearl millet hybrid (Rs.48545/ha). Benefit: cost ratio followed similar trend. Land equivalent ratio was significantly higher with medium duration pigeonpea variety TS-3R intercropped with GHB-558 pearl millet hybrid (1.71).