Companion Cropping of Vegetables with Ratoon Sugarcane: A Case Study

Abstract

This study was laid out during the years of 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 at the village Niyamatpur Thakuran, Farrukhabad, India. The soil of the experiment site was sandy loam which is conducive for cane cultivation. The six treatment combinations, i.e. ratoon cane alone, cane ratoon + vegetable pea, cane ratoon + cauliflower, cane ratoon + cabbage, cane ratoon + radish and cane ratoon + onion, were tested on farmers’ fields. Sugarcane planted in the spring season was harvested from the end of October to mid-November for juice and other purposes, and autumn ratoon was allowed. The row-to-row distance of cane ratoon was 90 cm; therefore, two rows of cauliflower and cabbage, three rows of radish and vegetable pea and four rows of onion were planted between two rows of autumn cane ratoon for fetching market value. The companion crops gave additional yield to the extent of 221 q/ha cauliflower, 319 q/ha cabbage, 224 q/ha radish, 118 q/ha green pods of vegetable pea and 298 q/ha bulbs of onion without any adverse effect on autumn ratoon. The highest stalk yield was weighed by 641 q/ha under companion cropping of cane ratoon + vegetable pea followed by cane ratoon + onion (639 q/ha). The lowest yield of cane ratoon was noticed in cane ratoon alone by 561 q/ha in comparison with all other companion cropping systems. The highest net return was computed under cane ratoon + onion cropping system (Rs. 38,794/ha) followed by cane ratoon + radish (Rs. 324,869/ha) and cane ratoon + vegetable pea for green pods (Rs. 32,236/ha). The similar trend was noted under benefit–cost ratio.