Assessment of Growth Indices and Forage Quality in Cowpea Based Intercropping Systems: A Study on Quality-economics Relationship

An experiment was conducted to study the impact of fertilization and intercropping on growth, quality and relative economics of cowpea-based intercropping systems. The experiment was laid in RCBD with three levels of fertilization treatment (0% RDF, 75% RDF, and 100% RDF) and five intercropping systems (sole cowpea, sole sorghum, sole maize, sorghum + cowpea (1:1), and maize + cowpea (1:1)), replicated thrice. The key parameters assessed during the study were CGR, RGR, quality and along with economic indices. The data revealed that the treatment F2I1 consistently performed good with respect to quality parameters. However, relative economics of the treatments of indicated that 100 % RDF along with intercropping of sorghum + cowpea and maize + cowpea resulted in higher net returns and BCR of (3.19 and 2.73) and (2.98 and 2.65) respectively. The interaction effects were also significant indicating a strong relationship between fertilization and cowpea-based intercropping. Furthermore, clustering and correlation showed a good relation between quality parameters and economic indices. Overall, the study demonstrated that intercropping of fodder cereals with cowpea under 100% RDF resulted in improved forage quality while making it economically viable fodder production strategy under temperate conditions.