Influence of Intercropping Patterns of Beet Leaf on Seed Yield, its Attributes and Economics of Onion Seed Crop

Abstract

The experiment was conducted during (October–June, 2018–19 and 2019–20) at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar in the Sub-tropical Northern plain of India with the aim to find a remunerative intercropping strategy for optimum onion seed production with green leaf cuttings of beet leaf. This investigation involved 17 intercropping arrangements as treatments, which exhibited cultivating multi-cut beet leaf crop with onion seed crop in different row arrangements (1 or 2 rows) and varied cutting frequency (3–6 cuttings) of beet leaf to understand its impact on onion seed yield and income generation.  Onion seed crop (sole crop) recorded the highest benefit-cost ratio (3.37:1) with superior yield attributes namely, seed yield (581.2 kg    ha^-1), seed stalk length (104 cm), seed stalk diameters (2.7 cm), seed stalk bulb^-1 (10.3), seed weight umbel^-1 (2.5 g). Among the intercropping treatments, Onion+Beet leaf (1 row) with 3 cuttings, recorded the highest onion seed yield (487.5 kg ha^-1) and benefit-cost ratio (2.76:1). In contrast, Onion seed crop+Beet leaf (2 rows) with 3 cuttings and left for beet leaf seed crop was performed poorly in all the parameters and recorded as the minimum value for seed yield (329.5 kg ha^-1), seed stalk length (85.5 cm), flower stalk diameter (1.9 cm), seed stalk bulb^-1 (6.7) and B:C ratio (1.71). Therefore, the intercropping strategy of Onion+Beet leaf (1 row) with 3 cuttings can potentially raise the vegetable growers’ income.