Yield and Profitability of Vegetable Based Intercrops in Mango Mother Plant Orchard

An intercropping trial was conducted on 30-year old mango mother plant orchard, where fruits are not taken and only scion materials are obtained for grafting purpose to identify the most profitable intercrop during 2015 and 2016 rabi (spring) seasons. The orchard trees are planted at a distance of 10x10 m spacing and soils are heavy clay but well drained, of average fertility status. The eight different vegetable crops grown as intercrops in the orchard were garlic (local variety), pea (Azad P-1), carrot (Pusa Kesar), palak (All Green), coriander (Pant Haritima), onion (Patna Red), radish (Snow White) and French bean (P-44). The two years pooled yield data of intercrops indicated that significantly the maximum yield (199.33 q ha-1) was recorded in palak followed by onion (191.4 q ha-1) and the lowest yield was recorded in coriander (49.22 q ha-1) which was at par with French bean (50.56 q ha-1). Regarding economics, it could be seen that the net income per hectare was the highest in onion intercrop (Rs. 3, 06,484) followed by garlic (Rs. 1, 79,924). The maximum benefit cost ratio was recorded in onion intercrop (4.01). When equivalent yield of the intercrops were compared in terms of garlic equivalent yield (GEY), the data revealed that highest GEY was in onion (95.72 q ha-1) and the lowest was in pea (34.79 q ha-1). The studies showed that vegetable crops are an interesting alternative to improve fruit orchard productivity