Assessment of mechanized sown cotton-based intercropping systems: Impact on yield, efficiency and profitability

Cotton, a valuable cash crop from the Gossypium genus, significantly contributes to the national economy. A primary challenge in cotton cultivation is the high labor demand for sowing. As labor shortages grow, sowing machinery has emerged as a viable alternative, decreasing labor expenses and operating duration. However, machine sowing requires wider inter-row spacing, and cotton's slow initial vegetative growth presents an opportunity to incorporate suitable intercrops. This technique optimizes resource utilization and offers potential supplementary income from intercropping in the event of primary cotton crop failure due to natural disasters. This study aims to identify suitable intercropping systems under mechanized sowing conditions to enhance yield, competitive indices, energy efficiency, and economic viability, supporting sustainable farmer incomes. The experiment employed a split-plot design with two main plots, five subplots, and three replications. Results showed that machine sowing was more profitable than manual sowing, reducing cultivation costs by 19.6% and increasing net returns by 22.7%, with a per-day return of 22.6%. Among intercropping systems, cotton + maize demonstrated superior performance, achieving significantly higher cotton-equivalent yield (22.2%), land equivalent ratio (32.0%), area-time equivalent ratio (21.0%), energy use efficiency (57.4%), energy productivity (63.5%), and net return (29.6%) compared to sole cotton. The study concluded that cotton + maize intercropping under mechanized sowing conditions improves yield, competitive indices, energy, and economic efficiency, enhancing overall farm productivity.