Role of soil fertility management on productivity of sesame and cowpea under different cropping systems

ABSTRACT- Declining land productivity associated with decreasing soil organic carbon and nutrients is a significant issue in monoculture production. The field experiment with different rates of fertilizer systems (۶۰ kg ha-۱ N + ۱۰۰ kg ha-۱ P, ۳۰۰ kg ha-۱ Bio-organic (organic fertilizer), ۳ kg ha-۱ Bioumik (biofertilizer), ۳۰ kg ha-۱  N + ۵۰ kg ha-۱ P + ۱۵۰ kg ha-۱ Bio-organic fertilizer and ۳۰ kg ha-۱ N + ۵۰ kg ha-۱ P + ۱.۵ kg ha-۱ Bioumik) as main effects and five cropping systems (sole sesame, sole cowpea, ۵۰:۵۰ sesame-cowpea intercropping, ۷۵:۲۵ sesame-cowpea intercropping and ۲۵:۷۵ sesame-cowpea intercropping) as subplot effects were carried out to study the influence of fertilizer systems application on productivity in intercrops and monocultures. Intercropping of ۵۰:۵۰ sesame-cowpea compared to monoculture plots was highly productive in terms of land equivalent ratio (۱.۰۳), area time equivalent ratio (۱.۰۴) and land use efficiency (۱۵۵%). Across fertilizer systems, the greater values of land equivalent ratio (۱.۲۴), area time equivalent ratio (۱.۲۵) and land use efficiency (۱۸۶%) were obtained from ۳۰ kg ha-۱ N + ۵۰ kg ha-۱ P + ۱۵۰ kg ha-۱ Bio-organic. The results indicate that fertilizer application rate of ۳۰ kg ha-۱ N + ۵۰ kg ha-۱ P + ۱۵۰ kg ha-۱ Bio-organic and intercropping of ۵۰:۵۰ sesame-cowpea could be an effective pathway in raising of productivity toward sustainable agriculture through maximum exploitation of the biological potential for efficient acquisition of P, N and other resources.

کلیدواژه ها:

Keywords: ، Cowpea ، Fertilizer ، Intercropping ، Productivity ، Sesame