Abstract

An experiment on the integrated nutrient management in gardenland cropping system was conducted at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The study revealed that cropping systems viz., Ragi (cotton + greengram) (sorghum + cowpea) (C4)and Ragi-cowpea-maize (fodder) (wheat + coriander) (C3) recorded the highest dry matter production of 23393 and 18871 and 6927 and 40267 kg/ha. Highest economic returns were obtained in the C4 cropping system which gave RS. 20710 and Rs. 21212 per hectare in the two years. Nutrient uptake pattern was found to follow the same trend as that of the dry matter production. Based on the post-harvest soil analysis, it was observed that the soil fertility status was not altered due to various cropping systems, if the crops included in the cropping systems were supplied with 100% recommended N.P and K to all the crops based on the soil test values.

Keywords: Cropping system, Integrated Nutrient management, Crop- ping system