Tree-crop interactions in Psidium guajava based agrihorticulture system Palsaniya D. R.*, Khan M. A., Tewari R. K., Bajpai C. K. National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi-284003, India *Corresponding author Email: drpalsaniya@gmail.com
Online published on 21 July, 2012. Abstract A field investigation consisting of thirteen treatment combinations (4 guava varieties - Allahabad Safeda, L49, Lalit and Sweta; 3 distances from tree base – 1, 2 and 3 m and one sole crop control) in a five year old agrihorticulture system was carried out to understand tree-crop interactions in the system and its effect on growth, productivity and profitability of the system. Barley growth (plant height and population/m2), yield attributes (spike length, grains/spike and 1000-grain weight) and yield (grain, straw and biological yield) did not vary significantly across the four guava varieties. However, these attributes of barley increased with increasing distance from tree base. Barley grain yield obtained at 2 (5088 kg/ha) and 3 m distance (5291 kg/ha) was 73.4 and 80.3% higher over 1 m, respectively. Similar trend was also observed in straw and biological yield. Further, grain yield of sole barley (5625 kg/ha) was 26.8% higher than the yield under guava based agrihorticulture system. The light interception by barley crop at harvest was higher in pure crop and reduced by 15.7% when it was grown with guava. Net return from guava - barley agrihorticulture system (Rs. 41,063/ha) at fifth year was lower by Rs. 6,802/ha as compared to sole barley. Further, the B:C ratio in sole barley was 2.38:1 compared to 2.04:1 in agrihorticulture system. Top Keywords Guava-barley agrihorticulture system, Treecrop interaction. Top |