Studies on Growth, Productivity and Economics of Baby Corn as Influenced by Crop Diversification of Baby Corn-based Cropping Systems

A field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Farm of Institute of Agriculture, Birbhum, West Bengal, India during winter from November to January of 2021–22 and 2022–23 respectively to evaluate growth, productivity and economics of baby corn as influenced by baby corn-based cropping systems. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with seven treatments (viz., baby corn-sesame, baby corn–green gram, baby corn–baby corn, baby corn–okra, baby corn–groundnut, baby corn–black gram and baby corn–cowpea) where each treatment was replicated thrice. Growth attributes, viz. LAI, dry matter accumulation, CGR, corn fresh weight and dry weight, yield components, yield and economics of baby corn. were significantly influenced by baby corn based cropping sequence on pooled data basis. Among different baby corn based-cropping sequences, baby corn in baby corn-groundnut cropping sequence exhibited significantly higher growth attributes, yield components (corn fresh weight and dry weight) and yield viz., cobs plant-1 (3.1), number of corns ha-1 (250667 ha-1) and green fodder (28.2 t ha-1) of baby corn than all other cropping sequences except baby corn-cowpea and baby corn-green gram sequence which was at par with each other. Baby corn in baby corn-groundnut cropping sequence fetched significantly higher gross return (`Rs. 3,07,105 ha-1), net return (`Rs. 2,53,122 ha-1), return rupee-1 invested (Rs. 5.7) and economic efficiency (`Rs. 3,693 unit area-1 day-1) than all other baby corn-based cropping sequences except baby corn-cowpea which was at par with each other. So, inclusion of legumes (like groundnut, cowpea and green gram) was better proposition than inclusion of non-legumes in baby corn-based cropping sequences.