Influence of conservation agriculture-based management practices on phenology, productivity, profitability and soil health in banana (Musa spp.) + elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) system

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during 201416 at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala to develop sustainable in- tensification package for Gajendra elephant foot yam [Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson] in Ro- busta banana (Musa spp.)-based system using resource conservation practices. Five treatments, comprising con- servation organic (T ), conservation chemical (T ), cconventional chemical (T ), conventional (package of prac- 1 2 3 tices (PoP)) as control (T ) and organic management + conventional tillage (T ), were replicated 4 times in ran- 4 5 domized block design. Growth, yield, soil physico-chemical-biological properties, system productivity and profit- ability of different treatments were studied. Combined analysis of yield indicated that the average corm yield of el- ephant foot yam was not significantly influenced by treatments, but conservation chemical practice resulted in 13.55% higher yield than conventional POP. Conservation chemical management resulted in the highest bunch yield (44.76 t/ha) of banana, which was on par with all other practices (3940 t/ha), except organic package (29.48 t/ha). Banana yield under conservation chemical management was 12.97% higher than the conventional PoP. In both the years, higher pH was noticed under conservation organic management, which was on a par with organic package. The conservation chemical treatment enhanced the available K content, which was at par with PoP and conservation organic at the end of 2 years. The exchangeable Ca, Mg, available Mn and Zn status were signifi- cantly higher and at par under conservation organic and conventional organic treatments. All the other soil param- eters, bulk density, particle density, water-holding capacity, porosity, organic C, EC, available N, P, CEC, popula- tion of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes, activity of soil enzymes, viz. dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase and ure- ase were unaffected by the different management practices. In terms of banana + elephant foot yam system, the conservation chemical management proved to be the most productive (+13% over PoP) and profitable (+32%) as revealed from the highest total tuber-equivalent yield (45.34 t/ha), production efficiency (151.13 kg/ha/day), gross income ( 1,360,170/ha), net income ( 866,421/ha) and benefit: cost ratio (2.75).