Summary
This three-year field trial conducted in the semiarid tropics evaluated how tillage intensity (conventional, reduced, and no-tillage) and cover crop inclusion (horse gram, lablab bean, or none) influence the productivity and energy efficiency of a rainfed finger millet–pigeon pea intercropping system. Conventional tillage was associated with approximately 12% higher energy inputs than reduced tillage, whilst the highest sustainable yield index (89.6%) was recorded under conventional tillage with horse gram as a cover crop. The findings suggest that cover crop integration can partially offset the sustainability trade-offs associated with more intensive tillage in semiarid smallholder contexts.
UK applicability
This study is set in semiarid tropical conditions in India, with crops not commonly grown in the UK, so direct transferability is limited. However, the principles regarding reduced tillage, cover crop selection, and energy-use efficiency are broadly relevant to UK arable systems seeking to improve sustainability and soil health under rainfed conditions.
Key measures
Grain yield (t/ha); sustainable yield index (%); energy input (MJ/ha); energy-use efficiency; soil physical and chemical properties
Outcomes reported
The study measured crop yield, energy-use efficiency, and sustainability indices of finger millet–pigeon pea intercropping systems under varying tillage intensities and cover crop combinations over three years. It also assessed soil properties as influenced by conventional, reduced, and no-tillage treatments combined with horse gram or lablab bean cover crops.
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