EFFECT OF NATURAL FARMING, ORGANIC FARMING, INTEGRATED CROP MANAGEMENT AND CONVENTIONAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON YIELD AND NUTRIENT BALANCE SHEET IN WHEAT + MUSTARD INTERCROPPING SYSTEM

Summary

This field trial, published in Plant Archives (2025), compares the agronomic performance and nutrient budgeting of wheat and mustard grown as an intercrop under four contrasting management regimes: natural farming, organic farming, integrated crop management and conventional management. The study likely reports on yield trade-offs and nutrient surplus or deficit associated with each system, contributing evidence on the sustainability of reduced-input and alternative farming approaches. Findings are expected to be relevant to semi-arid or sub-tropical arable contexts, most probably from India, where wheat-mustard intercropping is a common practice in the rabi season.

UK applicability

The findings are of limited direct applicability to UK farming systems, as wheat-mustard intercropping is not a standard UK practice and the agronomic and soil conditions differ substantially; however, the nutrient balance methodology and comparative framework across farming systems offer transferable insights for UK research into organic and integrated arable management.

Key measures

Grain yield (t/ha); nutrient balance sheet (N, P, K inputs and offtakes, kg/ha); intercropping system productivity

Outcomes reported

The study measured grain yield and nutrient balance sheets (likely nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium inputs versus offtakes) under four management systems in a wheat and mustard intercropping system. It compared outcomes across natural farming, organic farming, integrated crop management and conventional management approaches.

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