System Productivity and Resource Use Efficiency of Alternative Cropping Systems for Sugarcane in Karnataka.

The field experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Hukkeri, Belagavi, Karnataka, India during 2018-19 and 2019-20 to study the system productivity and resource use efficiency of alternative cropping systems for sugarcane. There were 11 treatments involving different cropping systems viz., soybean-sorghum-ridge gourd, pigeon pea±green gram (1:1)-beans, pigeon pea±soybean (1:1)-cowpea, soybean-wheat-groundnut, groundnut-sorghum-sesame, maize-cabbage-fallow, soybean-wheat-green gram, maize-wheat-sesame, Bt cotton-groundnut, sugarcane±onion (1:2) and sugarcane (sole) replicated thrice and laid out in randomized complete block design. Among the cropping systems, maize-cabbage-fallow system recorded significantly higher total system productivity (58,234 kg ha-1), water use efficiency (199.67 kg ha-1-mm) and energy use efficiency (129.91 MJ ha-1) compared to rest of the cropping systems. However, sugarcane (sole) recorded (1,11,008 kg ha-1, 68.64 kg ha-1-mm and 16.58 MJ ha-1, respectively). Based on alternative cropping systems involving only field crops, maize-wheat-sesame (9633 kg ha-1, 30.65 kg ha-1-mm and 132.20 MJ ha-1, respectively), soybean-wheat-groundnut (7602 kg ha-1, 27.40 kg ha-1-mm and 32.35 MJ ha-1, respectively), soybean-wheat-green gram (6424 kg ha-1, 23.05 kg ha-1-mm and 31.91 MJ ha-1, respectively) and Bt cottongroundnut (4503 kg ha-1, 17.97 kg ha-1-mm and 16.95 MJ ha-1, respectively) were significantly higher. By adopting the alternative cropping systems, there was water saving of approximately 45% compared to sugarcane monocropping and sugarcane±onion (1:2) intercropping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]