Influence of organics and inorganics on yield, quality, nutrient uptake and economics of sunflower + greengram intercropping system

Background: To investigate the combined effects of organics and inorganics on the yield, quality, nutrient uptake and economics of sunflower + greengram intercropping system, field investigations were conducted from July - October 2023 and January - April 2024 at the Experimental Farm, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, 608 002. Methods: The experiments were laid out in split plot design with three replications. The main plot treatments include M1 - Sole sunflower, M2 - sunflower + greengram and subplot treatments include S1 - RDF alone (60:90:60 kg of NPK ha-1), S2: RDF + Poultry manure compost @ 6t ha-1, S3: RDF + Poultry manure compost @ 6t ha-1 + Sulphur @ 45 kg ha-1 through gypsum, S4: RDF + Poultry manure compost @ 6t ha-1 + Sulphur @ 45kg ha-1 + AM Fungi @12 kg ha-1. Results: The experiment’s findings showed that the yield, quality, nutrient uptake and economics of sole sunflower were significantly influenced by RDF + Poultry manure compost @ 6t ha-1 + sulphur @ 45 kg ha-1 + AM fungi @ 12 kg ha-1 (M1S4). In terms of economics, sunflower + greengram intercropping system along with the application of RDF + Poultry manure compost @ 6t ha-1 + Sulphur @ 45 kg ha-1 + AM Fungi @ 12 kg ha-1 (M2S4) recorded the highest BCR of 2.74. Conclusion: Based on the results, it could be concluded that sunflower + greengram intercropping with the application of RDF (60:90:60 kg of NPK ha-1) + Poultry manure compost @ 6t ha-1 + Sulphur @ 45 kg ha-1 through Gypsum + AM Fungi @ 12 kg ha-1 (M2S4) was agronomically sound and economically feasible practice to maximize the productivity and profitability of sunflower growing farmers in Tamil Nadu.