Agrotechnology

Economic viability of medicinal plants cultivation in tree based intercropping systems under dryland conditions

2^nd International Conference on Agricultural & Horticultural Sciences

Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Hyderabad, India February 03-05, 2014

A. Madhavi Lata, M. Srinivasa Raju, A. Siva Sankar, B. Joseph and P. C. Rao

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Agrotechnol

Abstract:

A study was conducted on performance and economic feasibility of medicinal plants namely Andrographis and Aswagandha intercropping in the existing plantations of Amla and Terminalia during kharif seasons of 2008 and 2009 under rainfed conditions in red sandy loam soils. The treatments consisted of three cropping situations (Sole cropping, intercropping in Amla and Terminalia) and six nutrient management treatments. Two separate experiments were conducted, one with Andrographis and the other with Aswagandha. The experiments were conducted in split plot design with three replications. The results indicated that intercropping of Andrographis + Terminalia proved more economical over intercropping with Amla and sole cropping of Andrographis. Similarly Aswagandha also gave highest returns with Terminalia intercropping over sole cropping of Aswagandha and Aswagandha + Amla intercropping. As regards to the response of these medicinal plants to nutrient treatments, the INM treatment M5 (20 kg N ha -1 through urea + vermicompost @ 2 t ha -1 ) resulted in maximum net profit irrespective of cropping situations and proved beneficial over inorganic fertilizers alone or organic manuring alone.