Introduction to major field crops (1+1)

Yield

With the adoption of improved varieties and production technology yields of 25-30 q/hacan be obtained. In intercropping system,2-3q/ha of red gram yield may be obtained in addition to main crop yield.

Cropping System
The practice of inter cropping of red gram with companion crops like sorghum, maize, ragi, groundnut, black gram, green gram,soybean, turmeric, etc. is very common. Being deep rooted, the crop is very well suited for inter cropping and mixed cropping with the shallow rooted crops.

The crop is generally grown with wide row spacing. However, the initial growth is quite slow and the grand growth period starts after 60-70 days of sowing. A lot of inter-row spaces, therefore, remain vacant during the early stages and get infested by weeds. The space between the rows could be profitably utilized by growing short duration crops such as cowpea, green gram, black gram, etc.

Fig: Intercropping system.