Pearl millet: Optimizing Intercropping with Varied Nitrogen Levels

The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with Factorial concept and replicated three times. Fourteen treatment combinations comprising of seven intercropping treatments of pearl millet viz., I1 - sole pearl millet, I2 - sole black gram, I3 - sole cow pea, I4 - pearl millet + black gram (paired row 2:1), I5 - pearl millet + cow pea (paired row 2:1), I6 - pearl millet + black gram (paired row 3:2) and I7 - pearl millet + cow pea (paired row 3:2) and two nitrogen levels viz., N1 - 100 % RDN and N2 - 75 % RDN were evaluated in the study and it can be concluded that for getting higher PGEY (Pearl millet Grain Equivalent Yield), gross return and net return from pearl millet based intercropping system, pearl millet crop should be intercrop with black gram or cow pea in a 2:1 paired row intercropping system and fertilize with 100 % RDN. Beside this the intercropping of pearl millet with pulses also improve the nitrogen status over sole pearl millet at the end of the crop harvest.