Land con®guration and soil nutrient management options
for sustainable crop production on Al®sols and
Vertisols of southern peninsular India
R. Selvaraju
a,*, P. Subbian
a, A. Balasubramanian
a, R. Lal
baDepartment of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, Tamil Nadu, India bSchool of Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Received 16 June 1998; received in revised form 12 January 1999; accepted 24 August 1999
Abstract
Land con®guration in combination with nutrient management has the potential to improve the productivity of Al®sols and Vertisols in the semi-arid tropics. A four year (1989±1990 and 1992±1993) ®eld experiment was conducted at Coimbatore, India on Al®sols (Chromic Cambisol) to compare the effect of land con®guration and nutrient management practices on yield of rainfed sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). The land con®guration treatments were ¯at bed (FB, the traditional practice), open ridging (OR, ridges, 45 cm apart and 30 cm high) and tied ridging (TR, same as OR plus ridges were tied randomly). The manure and fertilisers were farm yard manure (FYM, livestock excreta plus litter at 5 Mg haÿ1
) and coir dust (CD, by-product after the extraction of coir from the coconut (Cocos nuciferaL.) husk at 12.5 Mg haÿ1) in combination with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertiliser levels. Tied ridges stored 14% more soil water and produced 14% and 11% more grain and straw yields of sorghum, respectively, than did ¯at bed. However, crop yield in TR was comparable with OR. Application of CD at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
combined with 40 kg N haÿ1
and 9 kg P haÿ1
was bene®cial for more soil water storage and increased yield of sorghum by 7% over FYM at 5 Mg haÿ1
40 kg N haÿ1
and 9 kg P haÿ1
. In Vertisols (Vertic Cambisols), experiments were conducted for two years (1991±1992 and 1992±1993) to evaluate land con®guration practices. The treatments were broad bed furrow (BBF, 120 cm wide bed with 30 cm wide and 15 cm deep furrows on both sides), compartmental bunding (CB, bunds of 15 cm height formed in all the four sides to form a check basin of 6 m5 m size), ridging (RD, ridges were formed for each and every row of the crop manually at four weeks after sowing) and FB under sorghumpigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glacum (L.) Stuntz)cowpea (Vigna unguiculata(L.) Walp) intercropping separately. Compartmental bunding stored 22% more soil moisture and increased the yield of sorghumpigeonpea intercropping than did FB in a low rainfall year. In a high rainfall year, BBF produced 34% and 33% more grain yield of sorghum and pearl millet base crops, respectively, over FB. However, BBF and CB were comparable. Pigeonpea intercrop under sorghum followed the same trend as its base crop, whereas, yield of cowpea differed compared to the pearl millet base crop. Tied ridging and application of manures (CD or FYM) in combination with inorganic N and P fertiliser can increase the soil water storage and yield of crops compared to traditional ¯at bed cultivation in rainfed Al®sol and related soils of semi-arid tropics. Similarly BBF and CB land con®guration practices could be adopted on Vertisols for
*Corresponding author. Tel.:91-422431222; fax:91-422430657
E-mail address: agronomy@tnau.kovai.tn.nic.in (R. Selvaraju)
better water conservation to increase the soil fertility and productivity of intercropping systems.#1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Land con®guration; Manures; Fertiliser levels; Al®sol; Vertisol
1. Introduction
The predominant soils of semi-arid tropics (SAT) of peninsular India are Al®sols and Vertisols (Murthy et al., 1981). Despite their importance in food production for growing populations of this region, productivity of these soils has remained low and unstable owing to climate and soil-related constraints.
Al®sols often have shallow effective rooting depth, low water holding capacity, and thus, can traditionally support one crop grown as a monoculture, particularly under rainfed situations. Accelerated runoff and soil erosion (Sharma et al., 1988), surface sealing and crusting (Mullins et al., 1990), low soil organic carbon content, and low inherent soil fertility (Das et al., 1991) are among major factors responsible for low crop yields from these soils. Surface con®guration, such as tied ridges, have been used to trap runoff when rainfall exceeds in®ltration (Hulugalle, 1990) in drought-prone shallow soils of the West African Sahel. Ridges are advantageous on some nutrient de®cient soils in Savannah region of Nigeria to concentrate the fertile top soil and to conserve water (Lal, 1995). However, on similar soils in India, Ali and Prasad (1974) reported no bene®cial effects of ridging either on water conservation or on grain yield of pearl millet. Moreover, high rates of runoff and erosion, poor germination and emergence (because of low soil water contents and high incidence of surface sealing) caused low yields in Al®sols (Singh and Subba Reddy, 1988). Field studies have shown that application of farm yard manure (FYM) increases soil water content, seedling emergence (Joshi, 1987), soil organic matter content, and yield of pearl millet, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum
L.) (Gupta et al., 1984) and sorghum (Cogle et al., 1997).
Coir dust, a by-product from coconut (Cocos nuci-feraL.) coir industries obtained as a waste after the extraction of coir from the husk is used for increasing the yield of crops and for enhancing the water reten-tivity and water availability of Al®sols (Raniperumal et al., 1991). Application of coir dust at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
enhanced the grain yield of sorghum by 38% over control (Ramasamy and Sreeramulu, 1983). Gupta and Abrol (1993) reported that chiseling of a red sandy loam along with mixing of coir dust at 10 Mg haÿ1
increased the groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) pod yield. Similarly, use of organic mulches and manures signi®cantly increased soil water reserves and crop yields in low fertility Al®sols (Durgude et al., 1996). Raghuwanshi and Rajivumat (1994) reported advan-tages of application of FYM with inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) on sorghum yield. Therefore, soil management in dryland cropping for Al®sols should aim to ensure that soil physical properties at the start of the wet season favour effective water entry and storage, easy seed bed preparation, and low risk crop establishment (Smith et al., 1992).
Vertisols are potentially productive soils within the semi-arid tropics of peninsular India. These soils have high water holding capacity and traditionally inter-cropping is practised during the north-east monsoon (October±December) season (Selvaraju and Ramas-wami, 1997) to reduce the risk of crop failure. Major soil-related constraints in Vertisols include low water in®ltration, high incidence of inundation, accelerated runoff and soil erosion during high rainfall year, and drought stress during the low rainfall year. Conse-quently, crop yields on Vertisols using traditional systems of management are low (Lal, 1995). Vertisols of the semi-arid tropics in India, however, have a fairly high potential for crop production when improved soil and water conservation practices are adopted for alleviating soil-related constraints (Sivakumar et al., 1992).
yield. Similarly compartmental bunding produced a higher grain yield of pearl millet (CRIDA, 1983) compared with that of the ¯at bed method of sowing. On the other hand, experiments conducted at ICRISAT (1982) showed no distinct yield advantage caused by land con®guration adopted during the cropping sea-son. In some Vertisols of south central India, no difference in grain yield of sorghum was observed with compartmental bunding and ridging over tradi-tional ¯at bed cultivation (CRIDA, 1990).
A review of literature on management of Vertisols suggests that land con®guration practices reduce the risk of crop failure only in certain situations. Yet, crop production effects of these practices have not been investigated for most commonly practised intercrop-ping systems of the region. Most of the experiments conducted have been limited to a few ecoregions, and have focused primarily on monocultures.
The objectives of this work were to: (1) determine the effect of land con®guration and nutrient manage-ment practices on soil water content and yield of rainfed sorghum in Al®sols, and (2) evaluate the effectiveness of land con®guration practices on soil
water content, soil fertility, crop establishment, growth and yield of sorghumpigeonpea and pearl milletcowpea intercropping systems in Vertisols.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Climate and crops
Field experiments were conducted at Coimbatore, India (118N latitude and 778E longitude). The mean annual rainfall (83 years) at Coimbatore is 648 mm distributed over about 50 rainy days with a 30% annual coef®cient of variation. The traditional dryland crop-ping period is either from the third week of September or from October to January (Fig. 1). The rainfall is of the monsoon type, with a south-west monsoon from June to September and a north-east monsoon from October to December. The annual mean maximum and minimum temperatures are 31.58C and 21.28C, respectively. The region is characterised as semi-arid tropics (SAT) climate (Sehgal et al., 1992). Long-term mean rainfall and rainfall during the study period for Coimbatore are given in Table 1. Two predominant
soils of the region are Al®sols and Vertisols, which occur side by side. Sorghum and pearl millet are usually intercropped with pulses under dryland con-ditions during the north-east monsoon season in Ver-tisols, while sorghum monoculture is the predominant system in Al®sols. Groundnut and cotton are also grown on Al®sols and Vertisols, respectively.
2.2. Experiment I (Alfisol)
2.2.1. Site and soil characteristics
Experiment I was conducted over four years (1989± 1990 and 1992±1993) at the Millet Breeding Station of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The soil, a red sandy loam (Al®sol) with 1±2% slope, is classi®ed as ®ne, mixed isohyperthermic Typic Haplustalf in soil taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 1992) and Chromic Cambisol in FAO (FAO, 1993) soil classi®cation. The top 15 cm of surface soil had a pH of 7.3, cation exchange capacity of 18 cmol () kgÿ1
and concen-tration of organic carbon of 4.0 g kgÿ1
. The surface soil (0±15 cm) consisted of 660 g kgÿ1
sand, 110 g kgÿ1
silt, 230 g kgÿ1
clay, a bulk density of 1.55 Mg mÿ3 tinuously cropped either with sorghum or pearl millet every year.
2.2.2. Experimental set-up and management
The experiment was established as a split-plot design with four treatments and three replications. Flat bed (FB), open ridging (OR), and random tie ridging (TR) were the main plot treatments. The subplot treatments, comprising organic manures and N and P levels, were: (1) farm yard manure (FYM) at 5 Mg haÿ1
Before the crop was sown, the experimental ®eld was uniformly ploughed once with a mouldboard plough (25 cm) and then harrowed twice (12 cm) with a nine tine cultivator. The FB treatment did not receive any land con®guration practice. Ridges were made using a bullock drawn ridger, 45 cm apart and about 30 cm high for the OR treatment. In addition, TR involved building ties manually at random to create a series of basins for soil water conservation. Required quantities of CD and FYM as per the treatments were applied uniformly on the soil surface before sowing and not incorporated, which acted as both surface mulch as and organic manures. The farm yard manure (FYM) contained 37 kg N haÿ1 (CO-26), was sown every year during the third week of September. Seeds were sown by hand in lines at double the desired plant population. Approximately 20 days after planting, seedlings were thinned to give the desired plant population of 148103 plants haÿ1
. The individual plot size was 7.2 m6 m with 1.5 m margins on both sides to curtail run-on to adjacent plots. The plots received variable N and P as per the treatment schedule, through urea (46% N) and single superphosphate (7% P) respectively. Fertiliser was placed in the seed row and covered with soil. The N fertiliser was applied in two splits, 50% at seeding and remaining 50% four weeks later, and the entire P was applied at seeding. All plots were weeded manu-ally once at 4±6 weeks after seeding.
Table 1
Long-term mean monthly temperature and rainfall and rainfall during the study period at Coimbatore, India
Month Long-term mean Rain in study period (mm)
Max. temp. (8C) Min. temp. (8C) Rainfall (mm) 1989±1990 1990±1991 1991±1992 1992±1993
September 30.7 22.0 68.0 57.3 63.2 29.6 154.7
October 30.4 22.0 146.0 213.1 136.9 81.5 87.1
November 29.3 21.1 118.0 67.8 93.7 26.1 306.6
December 28.9 19.6 41.4 18.1 7.0 1.0 8.1
January 31.1 21.7 14.0 28.7 27.4 0 0
2.2.3. Data collection and analysis
Soil water content was estimated in two depths (0±15 and 15±30 cm) gravimetrically using ®ve soil sub samples taken per treatment on 30 and 90 days after sowing (DAS) in 1991±1992 and 1992±1993 cropping seasons, respectively. Grain and straw yields were determined at maturity from the entire plot. The data on soil water content, sorghum grain and straw yields were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and statistical signi®cance was expressed as an LSD (least signi®cant difference) test (Gomez and Gomez, 1984).
2.3. Experiment II (Vertisol)
2.3.1. Site and soil characteristics
The site of Experiment II was the eastern block of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Farm, about a km (1000 m) away from the site for Experiment I. The soil at the site is a medium deep black soil (Vertisol) with a sandy clay loam texture (342 g kgÿ1
clay (<0.002 mm); 163 g kgÿ1
silt (0.002±0.02 mm); 287 g kgÿ1
®ne sand (0.02±0.2 mm); 208 g kgÿ1
sand (0.2±2 mm)). The clay fraction is dominated by mon-tmorillionite. The soil is clayey and produces cracks in summer exhibiting the characteristic property of swel-ling on wetting and shrinkage on drying. The soil is classi®ed as ®ne montmorillionitic, mixed isohy-perthermic Vertic Ustropept (Soil Survey Staff, 1992; Sehgal et al., 1992) and Vertic Cambisol in FAO (FAO, 1993) classi®cation. The surface (0± 0.15 m depth) soil has a pH of 8.2, cation exchange capacity of 30±70 cmol () kgÿ1
and concentration of organic carbon between 3.6 and 4.8 g kgÿ1
. Soil bulk density (1.35 Mg mÿ3
from 0±0.15 m depth) increases with depth and is maximum (1.48 Mg mÿ3
) at 0.45± 0.6 m depth. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the surface layer (0±0.15 m) is high (6.9410ÿ6
m sÿ1
) and decreases gradually down the pro®le to 0.45 m depth, and, thereafter, increases to 4.03
10ÿ6
m sÿ1
at the 0.60 m depth. The soil contains a high concentration of K and low concentration of N and P.
2.3.2. Experimental set-up and management
The experimental design was a randomised block with four treatments, and four replications. The
experimental ®eld was ploughed twice with the tradi-tional plough (non-inverting, 10±12 cm depth) before land con®guration practices were imposed. The land con®guration practices, namely, compartmental bund-ing (CB), ridgbund-ing (RD), broad bed and furrow (BBF) system were compared with the traditional farmer practice of FB. The CB treatment involved a check basin of 6 m5 m with bunds of 15 cm height formed with a bullock-drawn bund former (the plot was divided into compartments with a dimension of 6 m5 m with 15 cm height bunds on all the four sides). Seeds were sown on the grade and RDs were formed for each and every row of the crop manually at four weeks after sowing. The BBF system, involving a 120 cm wide bed with 30 cm wide and 15 cm deep furrows on both sides, was formed manually.
Small banks and buffer channels were formed and maintained (2 m width) between the plots to prevent run-on from one plot to the other. Effects of treatments were tested on the component crops of sor-ghumpigeonpea during 1991±1992 and on both sorghumpigeonpea and pearl milletcowpea intercropping systems during 1992±1993. A row spa-cing of 30 cm was maintained for the intercropping systems with 2:1 row arrangement. Plant populations of 148103haÿ1
for sorghum and pearl millet, 74103haÿ1
for cowpea, and 44103haÿ1
for pigeonpea were maintained. In the sorghum pigeon-pea system, crops were sown on 12th and 16th Sep-tember in 1991±1992 and 1992±1993, respectively. In the pearl milletcowpea system, sowing was done on 18th September in 1992±1993. One hand-hoeing and weeding were done at four weeks after sowing for all the treatments.
2.3.3. Data collection and analysis
using LI-COR leaf area meter (model LI 3600), and leaf area index (LAI) was calculated by dividing the total leaf area of the plants by the land area occupied. Five plants of each component crop were collected, air dried and then oven dried at 708C and dry weight was recorded at constant weight. Total dry matter produc-tion (TDMP) of the intercropping system at harvest was determined from the sum of the mass of compo-nent parts. Soil cores with a diameter of 8 cm were obtained from 0±15, 15±30 and 30±45 cm depths at two places, (e.g., one each at main crop and intercrop rows) and volumetric root length density (RLD) was calculated using the Newman (1966) line interception method. Plants were cut at ground level and separated into grain and straw (remaining plant material) and yields were determined. The crop residues and stub-bles left in 4.0 m2 area of each treatment were col-lected after harvest, washed free of soil, dried in an oven at 708C to constant weight, and weighed. Light interception by the intercropping systems on 60 days after sowing was calculated (Vandermeer, 1989) using the values recorded with a 1 m length line quantum sensor (model LI-COR, Li-191 SA) and integrating radiometer. All data were statistically (ANOVA) ana-lysed as per the randomised complete block design and the relationship between root length density (RLD) and grain yield of base and intercrops were established by univariate regression analysis (Gomez and Gomez, 1984; Dyke, 1997).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Experiment I (Alfisol)
3.1.1. Soil water content
The data on soil water content show that on average, TR stored 5% and 14% more water than did the OR and FB, respectively (Table 2). The TR treatment stored 15% more water at 0±15 cm depth and 8% more water at 15±30 cm depth on 30 days after sowing than the FB during 1991±1992, probably because of reduced runoff and greater soil water retention in furrows of TR plots (Hulugalle, 1990). TR stored 20% and 18% higher soil water than did FB at 0± 15 and 15±30 cm soil depth, respectively, on 90 days after sowing during 1992±1993. However, soil water stored in the OR did not signi®cantly differ from that in TR except for 0±15 cm depth on 30 days after sowing during 1991±1992. But at 15±30 cm depth, water contents in TR and OR were each signi®cantly different from that in the FB treatment. Application of CD at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
stored more water in both N40P9
and N20P4.5levels of fertiliser compared with
applica-tion of FYM at 5 Mg haÿ1
. In 1991±1992, application of CD stored 9% more water than did FYM across all depths. CDN20P4.5stored signi®cantly more water
than FYMN20P4.5or N40P9treatments for both 0±
15 and 15±30 cm depths. Pushpanathan and Veeraba-dran (1991) also reported that addition of CD resulted
Table 2
Soil water content (m3mÿ3) at different depths as affected by land configuration and manure and fertiliser in the Alfisola
Treatments 1991±1992 (30 days after sowing) 1992±1993 (90 days after sowing)
0±15 cm 15±30 cm 0±15 cm 15±30 cm
Land configuration (L)
FB 0.199 0.204 0.093 0.137
TR 0.229 0.219 0.112 0.162
OR 0.209 0.216 0.107 0.157
LSD(0.05) 0.012 0.005 0.014 0.018
Manures and fertilisers (MF)
FYMN40P9 0.201 0.209 0.103 0.145
FYMN20P4.5 0.209 0.210 0.099 0.157
CDN40P9 0.219 0.215 0.105 0.151
CDN20P4.5 0.220 0.219 0.107 0.156
LSD (0.05) 0.009 0.003 NS NS
aFB: flat bed, TR: tied ridging, OR: open ridging, FYM: farm yard manure at 5 Mg haÿ1, CD: coir dust at 12.5 Mg haÿ1, N
40P9: 40 kg N
and 9 kg P haÿ1, and N
20P4.5: 20 kg N and 4.5 kg P ha
in signi®cant increase in soil water content compared over no manuring and FYM. The effect of manure and fertilisers on soil water content was not signi®cant during 1992±1993 season probably because of above-mean rainfall (Table 1). Generally, application of 40 kg N and 9 kg P haÿ1
(N40P9) combined with
CD or FYM had lower soil water than 20 kg N and 4.5 kg P haÿ1
(N20P4.5) because of depletion of water
by actively growing crop.
3.1.2. Grain yield
In 1989±1990, the TR treatment produced 25% and 15% more sorghum grain yield than did FB and OR treatments (Table 3). During the second year (1990± 1991), the TR produced 17% more yield than did OR (signi®cant atP< 0.05). In comparison, the FB treat-ment produced 36% less yield than did TR, probably due to more availability of water in the root zone under the TR than under OR and FB (Hulugalle, 1987). In a high rainfall year of 1992±1993 (Table 1), the differ-ence among the land con®guration practices were not
signi®cant. There was no grain yield in the 1991±1992 season due to severe drought (Table 1). Among the subplot treatments, application of CD at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
N40P9 produced 7% high yields in 1989±
1990 and 24% high yield in 1990±1991 than FYMN40P9. However, in 1992±1993, FYM at
5 Mg haÿ1
N40P9produced more grain yield than
CDN40P9. Venkateswarlu and Das (1986) also
reported that for obtaining optimum yield, there was a need for application of fertilisers in conjunction with FYM. These results indicate that in low and medium rainfall years (1989±1990 and 1990±1991) (Table 1) CD produced more yield because of higher soil water storage compared with that in the FYM treatment. CD as an organic mulch is bene®cial in seasons with drought stress (Prihar and Gajri, 1988). TR and application of CD at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
N40P9
produced more grain yield because of higher water retention in the soil pro®le, which may have increased uptake of plant nutrients (Raniperumal et al., 1991). The interaction effect on grain yield was signi®cant in Table 3
Sorghum grain yield (kg haÿ1) as affected by land configuration and manure and fertiliser in the Alfisola
Treatments Land configuration practice Mean
FB TR OR
1989±90
FYMN40P9 1389 1571 1523 1494
FYMN20P4.5 1052 1324 1180 1185
CDN40P9 1468 1710 1633 1604
CDN20P4.5 1351 1969 1385 1568
Mean 1315 1644 1430
LSD (0.05) L, 50; MF, 113; LMF, 165
1990±91
FYMN40P9 836 1090 963 963
FYMN20P4.5 627 992 820 813
CDN40P9 1082 1335 1149 1189
CDN20P4.5 854 1220 1061 1045
Mean 850 1159 998
LSD (0.05) L, 81; MF, 110; LMF, 192
1992±93
FYMN40P9 3760 3934 3891 3862
FYMN20P4.5 3558 3731 3688 3659
CDN40P9 3683 3860 3824 3789
CDN20P4.5 3481 3652 3620 3584
Mean 3621 3794 3756
LSD (0.05) L, NS; MF, 179; LMF, NS
1989±1990 and 1990±1991. In a high rainfall year (1992±1993), FYM produced a high yield probably because of greater and more favourable nutrient avail-ability (Gupta and Abrol, 1993) than in the CD dust treatment.
3.1.3. Straw yield
The TR treatment produced 9%, 18%, 9% and 8% more sorghum straw yield than did FB in 1989±1990, 1990±1991, 1991±1992 and 1992±1993, respectively (Table 4). Sorghum straw yields for TR and OR treatments were similar in all years except in 1990± 1991, where TR produced 12% more straw yield than did OR (signi®cant atP< 0.05). During the ®rst three years of the study (1989±1990, 1990±1991 and 1991±
1992), straw yield was higher with application of coir dust at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
N40P9 than with FYM at
5 Mg haÿ1
N40P9. But in the fourth year (1992±
1993), application of FYM at 5 Mg haÿ1
N40P9
fertiliser level out yielded CD at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
N40P9by 4%. The effects of manures and fertilisers
on straw yields were signi®cant in all the four years. Application of CD or FYM either with 40 kg N and 9 kg P or 20 kg N and 4.5 kg P did not differ sig-ni®cantly with respect to straw yield of sorghum, indicating suf®ciency of 20 kg N and 4.5 kg P haÿ1
with either CD (12.5 Mg haÿ1
) or FYM (5 Mg haÿ1
) (Balasubramanian et al., 1995). Comparing the straw yield, the interaction effect was signi®cant only in 1990±1991 cropping season.
Table 4
Sorghum straw yield (kg haÿ1) as affected by land configuration and manure and fertiliser in the Alfisola
Treatments land configuration practice Mean
FB TR OR
1989±90
FYMN40P9 7091 7830 7303 7408
FYMN20P4.5 6886 7613 7048 7182
CDN40P9 7650 8279 8461 8130
CDN20P4.5 7482 8006 8026 7838
Mean 7277 7932 7710
LSD (0.05) L, 251; MF, 340; LMF, NS
1990±91
FYMN40P9 5990 7204 6461 6552
FYMN20P4.5 5650 6740 5957 6116
CDN40P9 6833 7906 7060 7266
CDN20P4.5 6352 7425 6622 6799
Mean 6206 7319 6525
LSD (0.05) L, 340; MF, 488; LMF, 847
1991±92
FYMN40P9 3091 3313 3281 3228
FYMN20P4.5 3003 3228 3202 3144
CDN40P9 3247 3515 3406 3388
CDN20P4.5 3056 3436 3315 3269
Mean 3099 3373 3301
LSD (0.05) L, 182; MF, 230; LMF, NS
1992±93
FYMN40P9 10 254 10 780 11 153 10 729
FYMN20P4.5 9816 10 812 10 440 10 353
CDN40P9 9903 10 776 10 552 10 410
CDN20P4.5 9431 10 141 10 027 9866
Mean 9849 10 627 10 543
LSD (0.05) L, 541; MF, 623; LMF, NS
3.2. Experiment II (Vertisol)
3.2.1. Soil water content
Soil water content in land con®guration practices versus days after sowing (DAS) are presented in Fig. 2a±c. Both CB and BBF stored 22% and 17% more water, respectively, than did the FB treatment at the beginning of season in 1991±1992 under sor-ghumpigeonpea intercropping system. However,
at the end of the season, by 83 days, all plots had similar water content (Fig. 2a). In 1992±1993, CB treatment stored more water up to 40 DAS than did BBF under the sorghumpigeonpea system (Fig. 2b) probably because impounding of rainfall for a long
time facilitated more in®ltration (Katama Reddy et al., 1992). Thereafter, on 65 DAS, CB stored 8% less water than did BBF due to a breach of bunds as a result of heavy rainfall (108 mm) on 15 November 1992, which resulted in a considerable runoff loss. The BBF practice absorbed more rain water and safely disposed the excess runoff. Ridging also stored an appreciable quantity of water but was not as effective as the BBF and CB land con®guration practices. Similar results were observed in the pearl milletcowpea system
during 1992±1993 (Fig. 2c). Higher runoff in the FB practice may be the reason for reduced soil water content at all stages, irrespective of intercropping systems.
3.2.2. Crop establishment
Crop establishment did not differ in sor-ghumpigeonpea intercrops in 1991±1992 (Table
5). However, the CB treatment had slightly higher establishment in sorghum and pigeonpea, respectively, over the FB, which may have been due to a higher water content in CB than FB treatment. In the high rainfall year of 1992±1993, the CB treatment had 8% lower establishment of sorghum, and 6% and 9% lower establishment for pearl millet and cowpea, respectively, than did BBF treatment. The CB treat-ment did not allow free drainage of excess water which led to water inundation in the initial periods (data not shown), which probably reduced crop estab-lishment. But in the BBF treatment, free drainage facilitated the crop establishment in Vertisols (ICRI-SAT, 1982).
3.2.3. Crop growth and yield
Growth and yield of sorghumpigeonpea system during 1991±1992 were signi®cantly (P< 0.05) affected by treatments. High root length, leaf area index (LAI) and straw yield of sorghum and leaf area, pods per plant and grain yield of pigeonpea were
observed in the CB land con®guration (Table 6), due probably to more soil water storage compared with that of other practices. In 1991±1992 sorghum did not produce earheads because of low rainfall (Table 1) and prolonged drought. However, pigeonpea produced some grains despite the low rainfall. In 1992±1993, grain yield of component crops and total dry matter production signi®cantly (P< 0.05) differed among land con®guration practices (Table 7). The BBF practice increased the grain yield of sorghum and pearl millet by 34% and 33%, respectively, over the FB. Grain yields of sorghum and pearl millet in the BBF practice were similar to those of the CB and RD treatments. The FB produced signi®cantly lower yield as FB retained less rain water than did either BBF or CB treatments. Intercropping pigeonpea with sorghum produced more yield under CB and was comparable to that of the BBF and RD treatments (Table 7). These results indicate that yield with intercropping pigeon-pea followed the trend of its main crop, sorghum. Cowpea produced 10% more grain yield under FB compared with the BBF system. Higher LAI and dry matter of pearl millet under BBF may have reduced the yield of cowpea due to shading.
Table 5
Effect of land configuration practices on crop establishment (%) of intercropping systems in the Vertisola
Treatments SorghumPigeonpea (1991±1992) SorghumPigeonpea (1992±1993) Pearl milletCowpea (1992±1993)
Sorghum Pigeonpea Sorghum Pigeonpea Pearl millet Cowpea
CB 88.0 84.9 83.7 74.5 82.1 86.6
RD 85.3 83.2 85.0 76.5 83.1 93.3
BBF 87.9 84.0 90.2 80.6 86.8 94.2
FB 85.1 83.5 85.4 77.2 83.6 91.7
LSD (0.05) NS NS 5.3 NS 5.9 5.1
aCB: compartmental bunding, RD: ridging, BBF: broad bed furrow, and FB: flat bed. NS: not significant.
Table 6
Effect of land configuration practices on growth and yield of sorghumpigeonpea intercropping system during 1991±1992 in the Vertisola
Treatments Sorghum (main crop) Pigeonpea (intercrop)
Root length (cm)
LAI Straw yield
(kg haÿ1)
Leaf area (cm2per plant)
Pods per plant
Grain yield (kg haÿ1)
CB 38.5 3.60 3530 286 7.4 20.7
RD 36.7 3.00 3360 263 6.9 18.6
BBF 37.9 3.21 3450 277 7.2 19.1
FB 35.3 2.83 3220 246 6.3 17.8
LSD(0.05) 1.9 0.35 220 14 0.6 2.5
The sorghumpigeonpea system produced 27%
more TDMP than did the pearl milletcowpea sys-tem probably because of greater photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) interception. The BBF practice had 12% and 15% more PAR interception than did FB in sorghumpigeonpea and pearl milletcowpea systems, respectively (Fig. 3).
3.2.4. Root length density versus grain yield
Higher yields of sorghum and pearl millet with BBF and CB treatments may have been due to high RLD, which probably improved the uptake of water and nutrients. Similar results were reported by Kampen (1982). The regression equations indicated that RLD had a high positive correlation with grain yield of sorghum and pearl millet only for 0±15 and 15±30 cm soil depths (Table 8). Therefore, yield increase was correlated with RLD (Nicou et al., 1993) as affected by land con®guration practices such as BBF and CB. The RLD in the 15±30 cm depth favourably in¯u-enced the grain yield of pigeonpea (r20.79), but indicated less response to management.
3.2.5. Post harvest soil fertility
The BBF and CB land con®gurations added more crop residues to the soil at the end of the season and led to higher available nitrogen and organic carbon con-tent (Table 9). In 1992±1993, BBF added 13% and 22% more crop residues under sorghumpigeonpea and pearl milletcowpea intercropping, respective-ly,than did FB. The organic carbon content of the soil under BBF was 11% more than the FB in sor-ghumpigeonpea intercropping in 1992±1993. In 1991±1992, CB had 21% greater organic carbon than
did FB. Lal (1995) reported that substantial addition of crop residues enhances soil fertility and increases yield. More soil water storage in BBF, CB and RD practices probably increased the crop residue addition. Table 7
Effect of land configuration practices on grain yield of component crops and total dry matter production (TDMP) of intercropping systems during 1992±1993 in the Vertisola
Treatments SorghumPigeonpea Pearl milletCowpea
Sorghum grain yield (kg haÿ1)
Pigeonpea grain yield (kg haÿ1)
TDMP of the system (Mg haÿ1)
Pearl millet grain yield (kg haÿ1)
Cowpea grain yield (kg haÿ1)
TDMP of the system (Mg haÿ1)
CB 2174 140 10.58 1707 78 8.15
RD 1995 135 9.91 1600 82 7.85
BBF 2255 140 10.43 1747 76 8.07
FB 1681 126 9.03 1313 84 7.49
LSD (0.05) 268 12 0.83 228 7 0.56
aSee footnote to Table 5 for the definition of the abbreviations.
Fig. 3. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) interception of intercropping systems across the treatments in intercropping systems in the Vertisol. BBF Ð broad bed furrow; RD Ð ridging; CB Ð compartmental bunding; FB Ð flat bed.abcbars with the
Sivakumar et al. (1992) also reported an increase in soil fertility of the soil due to more water availability.
4. Conclusions
The climate of the southern Indian semi-arid tropics (rainy season of 3±4 months) is characterised by frequent dry spells. In the rainfed Al®sols and asso-ciated soils of this region, utilisation of TR and locally available organic manures such as CD and FYM in combination with inorganic N and P fertilisers can result in alleviation of climatic and soil-related con-straints like low soil water retention and low soil
fertility. The study on Al®sol also indicated that soil water storage and soil nutrient management, as in¯u-enced by land con®guration and manures, were the critical factors to increase the yield of sorghum. In relation to either OR or planting on the FB, TR increases soil water content and grain and straw yield of sorghum irrespective of rainfall category. Applica-tion of CD at 12.5 Mg haÿ1
40 kg N and 9 kg P haÿ1
produced higher yield in low and medium rainfall years probably because of effectiveness of CD as surface mulch to store more water. In high rainfall year, application of 5 Mg haÿ1
FYM produced more yield due to more favourable nutrient availability than CD, but difference was not signi®cant. The land con®guration with TR and integration of organic manures like CD or FYM with inorganic N and P fertilisers can increase soil water content and still increase productivity of crops by reducing soil degra-dation on Al®sols of semi-arid tropics.
Generally, capturing the entire rainfall for increased soil water storage in a low rainfall year and provision of proper drainage, besides water storage in a high rainfall year, as in¯uenced by land con®guration practice was the critical factor in Vertisols and related heavy textured soils. The study on Vertisols indicated that compartmental bunding was found to be effective in a low rainfall year probably because impounding of high intensity rainfall due to greater surface storage. In a high rainfall year, BBF practice increased the grain yield of sorghum and pearl millet base crops by 34% and 33%, respectively, probably because of optimum water storage and safe disposal of excess rain water over the FB. Although the performance differed with rainfall pattern, BBF and CB were statistically com-parable. The RD was superior to FB in improving soil Table 8
Relationship between root length density (RLD) and yield (Y) of base and intercrops in the Vertisol during 1992±1993
Crop Soil depth
aSignificant at 1% level. NS: not significant.
Table 9
Effect of land configuration techniques on crop residue addition (CRA) and post harvest soil fertility in the Vertisola
Treatments SorghumPigeonpea (1991±1992)
SorghumPigeonpea (1992±1993) Pearl milletCowpea (1992±1993)
Available N
water storage and yield of crops but not as good as either CB and BBF practice. CB and BBF could be effective in conserving soil water to support intercrop-ping systems even during drought situations than traditional FB. These land con®guration practices can also improve soil quality through addition of crop residue and soil organic carbon at the end of the season.
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