Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp2 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Evaluation of finger millet-toria cropping system under different row proportions with pulses in mid hills of Meghalaya

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.13357
Submitted
25 December 2025
Published
19-05-2026

Abstract

Finger millet–based cropping systems are crucial for ensuring food and livelihood security in the mid-hill regions of the Northeastern Himalayas; however, their productivity and profitability remain constrained due to low soil fertility, limited external inputs and poor system sustainability. In this context, integration of legumes through intercropping and the assessment of their residual effects on succeeding crops offers a promising pathway for sustainable intensification. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of finger millet–pulse intercropping systems on the performance of finger millet-toria cropping sequence under mid-hill conditions of Meghalaya. A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years comprising sole finger millet, sole pulses (green gram and black gram) and finger millet intercropped with green gram or black gram in different row proportions (1 : 1, 2 : 1, 2 : 2, 3 : 3 and 4 : 2), followed by toria as a succeeding crop. The results revealed that finger millet intercropped with green gram significantly outperformed sole cropping systems. Finger millet + green gram at 4:2 row proportion recorded the highest system productivity (4.08 t ha-1), sustainable yield index (0.63), system production efficiency (11.18 kg ha-1 d-1) and profitability (₹260.5 ha-1 d-1), along with superior residual effects on yield attributes of toria. The study concludes that finger millet + green gram (4 : 2)–toria cropping sequence is an agronomically efficient, sustainable and economically viable option for smallholder farmers in the mid-hill regions of Meghalaya and similar agro-ecological environments.

References

  1. 1. Meena DS, Gautam Ch, Patidar OP, Ranvir Singh, Meena HM, Vishwajith et al. Management of finger millet-based cropping systems for sustainable production. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2017;6:676–686. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.603.078
  2. 2. Jakhar P, Adhikary PP, Naik BS, Madhu M. Finger millet–groundnut strip cropping for enhanced productivity and resource conservation in upland of Eastern Ghats of Odisha. Indian J Agron. 2015;60(3):365–371. https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v60i3.4486
  3. 3. Swamy KRM. origin, domestication, taxonomy, botanical description, genetics and cytogenetics, genetc diversity, breeding, of ragi (Eleusine coracana L.). Int. J. Curr Res. 2023a;15(08):25589–25610.
  4. 4. Annual Report, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, 2024–25.
  5. 5. Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Government of Meghalaya, 2023–24.
  6. 6. Kakraliya SK, Singh U, Bohra A, Choudhary KK, Kumar S, Meena RS. et al. Nitrogen and legumes: A meta-analysis. In: Meena, R., Das, A., Yadav, G., Lal, R. (eds) Legumes for soil health and sustainable management. Springer, Singapore; 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0253-4_9
  7. 7. Swamy KRM. Origin, domestication, taxonomy, botanical description, genetics and cytogenetics, genetc diversity and breeding of uradbean (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper). Int J of Curr Res. 2023b;15(08):25679–98.
  8. 8. Jensen ES, Bedoussac L, Carlsson G, Journet EP, Justes E, Hauggaard-Nielsen H. Enhancing yield in organic crop production by eco-functional intensification. Sustain Agric Res. 2015; 4:42–50. https://doi.org/10.5539/sar.v4n3p42
  9. 9. Laurent B, Hauggaard-Nielsen H, Naudin C, Corre-Hellou G. Ecological principles underlying the increase of productivity achieved by cereal–grain legume intercrops in organic farming: a review. Agron Sustain Dev. 2015;35(3):911–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-014-0277-7
  10. 10. Naudin C, Corre-Hellou G, Pineau S, Crozat Y, Jeuffroy MH. The effect of various dynamics of N availability on winter pea–wheat intercrops: crop growth, N partitioning and symbiotic N2 fixation. Field Crops Res. 2010;119:2–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2010.06.002
  11. 11. Panda SC. Agronomy. Jodhpur, India: Agrobios (India); 2010. p. 99–137.
  12. 12. Getachew A, Amare G, Woldeyesus S. Yield potential and land-use efficiency of wheat and faba bean mixed intercropping. Agron Sustain Dev. 2008;28:257–263. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008012
  13. 13. Wani SP, Rupela OP, Lee KK. BNF technology for sustainable agriculture. In: Transactions of the 15th World Congress of Soil Science, 10–16 July 1994. Acapulco, Mexico: The International Society of Soil Science and The Mexican Society of Soil Science; 1994. p. 245–62.
  14. 14. Avtar R, Kumari N, Rani B, Narula A, Thakra NK, Singh D. Evaluation, classification and characterization of Toria germplasm for different agro-morphological traits. J Oilseed Brassica. 2016;7(1):52-62.
  15. 15. Reddy SR. Principles of Agronomy, 4th ed. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, India; 2016.
  16. 16. Lal RB, Ray S. Economics of crop production of different intensities. Indian J Agric Sci. 1976;46:93–6.
  17. 17. Pooniya V, Zhiipao RR, Biswakarma N, Jat SL, Kumar D, Parihar CM et al. Long-term conservation agriculture and best nutrient management improves productivity and profitability coupled with soil properties of a maize–chickpea rotation. Sci Rep. 2021;11:10386. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89737-9
  18. 18. Chunjie L, Stomph TJ, Makowski D. The productive performance of intercropping. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2023;120(2): e2201886120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201886120
  19. 19. Sharma RP, Dutta SK, Ghosh M. Diversification of rice (Oryza sativa)–wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system for sustainable production in south Bihar alluvial plains. Indian J Agron. 2014;59(2):191–9. https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v59i2.4554
  20. 20. Gomez KA, Gomez AA. Statistical procedures for agricultural research. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons; 1984. p. 680.
  21. 21. Shilpa LBS, Nagaraj KH, Murthy KK, Jayadeva HM, Sannagoudar MS, Vasundhara R.et al. Crop diversification strategies for yield enhancement in finger millet-based cropping systems. Front. Agron. 2025;21(7):1644473. https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2025.1644473
  22. 22. Habde S, Dhanasekar P, Souframanien J. Urdbean [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] Breeding. In: Prasad DG, Dikshit HK, Mishra GP, Aski MS. (eds) Fundamentals of Legume Breeding. Springer, Singapore. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-7838-9_6
  23. 23. Dass A, Sudhishri S. Intercropping in finger millet (Eleusine coracana) with pulses for enhanced productivity, resource conservation and soil fertility in uplands of Southern Orissa. Indian J Agron. 2010;55(2):89–94.
  24. 24. Om H, Katyal SK, Dahiman SD. Effect of nitrogen and seed rate in nursery on growth and yield of hybrid rice. Indian J Agron. 1997; 42:275–277.
  25. 25. Bobade BR, Asewar BV, Nikam SM, Dakhore KK. Thermal Requirement of Green Gram (Vigna radiate L.) Varieties at Different Phenological Stages under Varied Weather Condition. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci. 2019;8(12):925–930. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.812.118
  26. 26. Velayutham A, Somasundaram E. Change of management of pulses intercropping system. In: Recent advances in pulse crop production technology. Training held at Centre for Advanced Studies in Agronomy. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu Agricultural University; 2000.
  27. 27. Ashraf A, Khalid A, Ali K. Effect of seedling age and density on growth and yield of rice in saline soil. Pakistan J Biol Sci. 1999;2(3):860–62. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjbs.1999.860.862
  28. 28. Das SK, Balasubramanian V, Rao ACS. Nutrient management in drylands with special reference to cropping systems and semi-arid red soils. In: Singh RP, Das SK, editors. Bulletin No. 8. Hyderabad: AICRPDA, ICAR; 1982.
  29. 29. Bagayoko M, Mason SC, Traore S, Eskridge KM. Pearl millet/cowpea cropping systems: yield and soil nutrient levels. Afr Crop Sci J. 1996; 4:453–62.
  30. 30. Nair KPP, Patel UK, Singh RP, Kaushik MK. Evaluation of legume intercropping in conservation of fertilizer nitrogen in maize culture. J Agric Sci. 2009;93(1):189–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859600086275
  31. 31. Sannagoudar MS, Murthy KK, Nagaraju GR, Ghosh AV, Singh AK, Gupta GA, et.al. Influence of weed management practices in maize (Zea mays) based intercropping system. Indian J Agric Sci. 2021;91(7):1067–71. https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v91i7.115133
  32. 32. Shao Z, Hu S, Fan C, Meng Z, Yan X, Ji W. et al. Optimizing row ratio configurations for enhanced productivity and resource-use efficiency in maize–alfalfa intercropping. Plants. 2025;14(24):3846. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14243846
  33. 33. Meena SL, Shamsudheen M, Dayal D. Productivity of clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) and sesame (Sesamum indicum) intercropping system under different row ratio and nutrient management in arid region. Indian J Agric Sci. 2009;79(11).
  34. 34. Madagavi S, Mallikarjuna GB, Bhairappanavar, Jayadeva HM. Statistical analysis for yield sustainability index of maize–urdbean intercropping system. Mysore J Agric Sci. 2014;48(4):501–05.
  35. 35. Mulik SP, Ghadge HL, Jadhav AS, Patil SK. Sustainability of rainy season cropping systems under dryland conditions of vertisols. Indian J Agron. 1996;41(3):359–63.
  36. 36. Dhaka AK, Jat RD, Singh B, Bishnoi DK, Gora MN. Evaluation of barnyard millet intercropping systems in semi-arid zone of Hisar. Indian J Agron. 2024;69(3):311–19. https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v69i3.5527

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.