Yield dynamics and economic benefits of maize-wheat based cropping system under mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Two-year field experiment conducted during 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 to assess the impact of natural and organic farming techniques on the productivity and profitability of the maize-wheat-based cropping system indicated that adoption of organic farming techniques led to a significantly higher maize equivalent yield of the system. There was an increment in the system equivalent yield of T4 (Maize + soybean-wheat + lentil and jeevamrit spray at 14 days interval) by 118.96, 131.84, 143.66 and 126.94 per cent in the 1st year and 112.43, 137.98, 157.66 and 114.42 per cent in the 2nd year of experimentation over sole treatments. Organic farming practices also proved better in terms of various economic indicators, including gross returns, net returns, benefit-cost ratio and the profitability of the system.