Designing climate resilient legume-oilseed based cropping systems for rainfed Alfisols of South India

This study explores the development of climate resilient legume-oilseed cropping systems aimed at enhancing productivity and sustainability in dryland regions. Dryland agriculture, often limited by mono-cropping practices and erratic rainfall, necessitates innovative approaches for crop intensification and sustainability for the future. The integration of legumes and oilseeds into double cropping systems offers a viable solution for optimizing land use and improving productivity under precipitation-limited conditions. The experiment was conducted at the Gungal Research Farm during 2022-23 and 2023-24 to evaluate six pulse-oilseed cropping systems with and without rainwater management against existing intercropping system of sorghum+ pigeonpea (2:1). Double cropping system of cowpea and sesame with rainwater management showed promising results, offering substantial yield attributes, black gram equivalent yield and uptake of nutrients. Cowpea-sesame system emerged as a promising double cropping system in both the years, exhibiting higher equivalent yield (1758 kg/ha) compared to other systems. Rainwater management significantly influenced crop performance in both the years. Apart from the yield, the price of both cowpea and sesame resulted in higher crop equivalent yield with and without rainwater management. Overall, the study emphasizes that cowpea- sesame system with rainwater management is the best system that resulted in higher black gram equivalent yield (1758 kg/ha).