Impact of natural and organic farming systems on growth, yield and economics of greengram

A field experiment was conducted at the Instructional Farm, College of Agriculture, Vijayapur, in the Northern Dry Zone of Karnataka, during the 2019-20 kharif season to assess the impact of natural and organic farming on the growth, yield, and economics of greengram. The experiment involved twelve treatment combinations, with three main treatments representing different farming systems and four subplot treatments corresponding to various nutrient levels, alongside a control that followed conventional farming practices with the recommended package. The strip-plot design included a single control and three replications. The results demonstrated that the organic farming system significantly enhanced growth, yield, and yield-related attributes. Among the nutrient levels, applying organic fertilizers equivalent to 125% of the recommended P₂O₅ produced superior growth and yield attributes compared to other levels. The combination of organic farming and 125% P₂O₅ resulted in the highest growth parameters, with a seed yield of 713 kg/ha, 11.9 pods per plant, 5.93 g seed weight per plant, 4.69 g for 100-seed weight and haulm yield of 1943 kg/ha, surpassing both the control and other treatments. This treatment also achieved the highest gross returns (₹ 59,874 per hectare) and net returns (₹ 32,121 per hectare). However, the highest benefit-cost ratio (2.22) was observed in the organic farming system with 100% of the recommended P₂O₅.