INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT APPROACH FOR ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY AND ECONOMICS OF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) - TORIA (BRASSICA CAMPESTRIS L.) CROPPING SYSTEM

Integrated nutrient management (INM) approach for maize – toria cropping system was studied in a field experiment during 2003-04 and 2004-05. INM treatments effected significant differences on all the growth and yield attributing characters of maize over control. Among the organic sources of nutrients, application of FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 + Eupatorium @ 2.5 t ha-1 increased the growth and yield attributes of maize, at par with FYM @2.5 t ha-1 + Alnus @ 5 t ha-1. However, application of FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 + Alnus @ 2.5 t ha-1 recorded highest system productivity (41.08 q ha-1), net return (Rs. 8.98 x103 ha-1) and benefit: cost ratio (1.64) of the system followed by FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 + Eupatorium @ 2.5 t ha-1 and Eupatorium @ 5 t ha-1 alone. On the other hand, highest plant height (217.25 cm), basal girth (7.52cm), cob length (15.76 cm), grains cob-1 (342.57), grain weight cob-1 (105.90 g), 100 grain weight (29.66 g) and harvest index (0.117) were registered with 100% recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) to maize followed by 50% RDF to toria. But, the highest residual effect of organics on number of branches  plant-1 (5.26), number of siliqua plant-1 (67.44) and harvest index (0.30) of toria were recorded in plots where Eupatorium @ 5 t ha-1 was applied to maize. The INM treatments of FYM@ 2.5t ha-1 + Alnus @ 2.5 t ha-1 followed by FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 + Eupatorium@ 2.5 t ha-1 or Eupatorium  @5 t ha-1 with or without 100 % RDF to maize + 50 % RDF to toria was found to be beneficial in terms of maize equivalent yield ( MEY), net returns and benefit: cost ratio for maize-toria cropping system.