Crop Diversification A Paradigm for Sustainable Agriculture

1. Credit seminar
on
Crop Diversification :
A Paradigm for Sustainable Agriculture
Presented by
Nikhil Kumar
BAC/D/AGRO/004 /2017-18
Department of Agronomy
Bihar Agricultural College, Sabour, Bhagalpur (Bihar) -813 210
Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur (Bihar) -813 210

2. Introduction
 Crop diversification is the budge word in agricultural
scenario at the national and international level.
 During the period of green revolution when there was a
need of enhancing total food grain production,
emphasis was given on increasing the cropping
intensity and crop productivity.
 But in long term, this approach digressed from the
principle of crop production, where the basics of crop
rotation and crop sequences played an important role.
Cont…

3. Under such situations, approach of
diversification has been envisaged as a new
strategy towards enhancing and stabilizing
productivity.
Crop diversification making Indian
agriculture export competitive and increasing net
farm income and economic security.
 Agriculture and crop diversification is now
almost a normal feature of stable agriculture.
(Joshi, et al., 2004)

4. Indian agriculture scenario
Agriculture plays a major role in Indian economy
Provides about 65% of the livelihood
Average size of operational land Holdings is 1.15 ha
(Census 2010-11)

5. Agriculture scenario of Bihar
(Eastern India)
 Area of the state is 9.4 million ha
 Net sown area 5.7 m ha
 9% farmers are marginal and hold .5 to 1. ha of land.
 6% area is under irrigation
 Irrigation system is based on private diesel engine which is too
costly.
 Rice-wheat cropping system is the dominant cropping system.
 Cropping intensity of state is 144.3 %.
 Maize is coming up as a popular cash crop for the state.
 Conservation Agriculture crop management practices have been
introduced recently.

6.  A shift of a crop or cropping system to another crop or
cropping system.
 Use of resources in best possible way by changing and
modifying the degree, trend and time options of
crop/cropping activities.
 A shift from less profitable and sustainable crop or
cropping system to more profitable and sustainable
crop/cropping system.
Concept of crop diversification

7. The important facts highlighting the need of
crop diversification in India
 For raising farm income.
 Sustainable production and income.
 Food and nutrient security.
 Promotion of export.
 Employment generation.
 Poverty alleviation.
 Judicious use of land and water resources.
 Reduction in environmental pollution.

8. Priorities for crop diversification in India
 Changing of resource use efficiency parameters.
 Crop rotation effect.
 Incorporation of crops and technologies.
 Research on actual farm environment through
farmer participatory mode.
 Assurance against the risk to farmers under
changing weather and sharp fluctuation in prices.
 National issues like nutritional and food security.

9. Number of factors governs nature and speed of
crop diversification.
Resource endowments:
● Agro climatic conditions.
● Soil.
● Labour.
● Facility of irrigation.
Technological factors.
House hold factors.
Institutional and infrastructural factors.
Price factors.
Determinants of crop diversification

10. Approaches of crop diversification
 Horizontal diversification:
Crop substitution
 Vertical diversification:
Crop intensification
 Other approaches:
Land based approach
Water based approach

11. Crop diversification under assured
irrigation situations.
Crop diversification under water
scarce conditions.
Crop diversification for nutrient
management.
The important crop diversification
approaches in rainfed areas of India

12.  Delineate area : Scientific data base priorities
and targeted area.
 Choice of alternative crops and technology.
 Priority Input/credit supply for alternative
crops.
 Share the risk of new system.
 Market support - Rural uplinking.
Crop Diversification
Required steps for diversification

13. Strategies for crop diversification
 Diversion of high water requiring crops to less water
intensive crops.
 Diversion of cotton to pulses, oilseeds and maize in light
textured and shallow soils.
 Replacement of low yielding low value coarse cereals to
high yielding high value crops like pulses.
 Inter cropping or mixed cropping be promoted in dry
areas.
 Shift high risk crops with short duration pulses and
drought resistant oilseeds crops.

14. State Main
crop
Kharif alternate
crop
Main crop Rabi alternate crop
Punjab Rice Maize, mung/urd Wheat Mustard, chick pea,
lentil, field peas
Uttar
Pradesh
Rice Arhar (short
duration)
mung/urd
Wheat Mustard, chick pea,
lentil, field pea
Bihar Rice Not suggested as
most of the rice
area is
waterlogged
Wheat Maize, mustard, lentil.
Suggested alternate crops in place of rice and
wheat in major growing states.
New Delhi, Hazra (2003)

15. Constraints in crop diversification
Lack of suitable land.
Lack of water and technologies.
Low adoption rate of new varieties.
Imports discourage diversification.
Existing marketing system discourages
diversification.
Very weak agro-based industry.
Inadequate supply of improved and quality
seeds and planting material of improved
cultivars.

16. Major opportunities for diversification
Increasing incomes through triple crop systems
The highest-yielding systems were:
maize followed by (fb) mustard (6.4 t/ha wheat equivalent yield)
maize fb wheat (7.7 t/ha)
rice fb mustard fb mung bean (9.1 t/ha)
 rice fb wheat (9.1t/ha)
rice fb mustard fb maize (11.9 t/ha)
Most profitable system is:
Short duration rice fb mustard fb mung bean (US$2,226/ha).
Short duration rice fb mustard fb maize (US$ 1,88/ha)
Medium duration hybrid rice fb long-duration wheat
(US$1,143/ha)
long-duration rice variety fb short-duration wheat (US$ 988/ha)
MCDONALD et al., 4th
International Agronomy Congress, 2016, 82 - 86

17. Government policies and strategies for
crop diversification
 Implementing national agriculture insurance
scheme.
 Provision of capital subsidy of 25 percent for
construction / modernization / expansion of cold
storages and storages for horticultural produce.
 Creation of watershed development fund.
 Strengthening agricultural marketing.
 Seed crop insurance.
 Cooperative sector reforms.

18. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
(Agricultural insurance an important safety net for farmers to deal with the impacts of
extreme and unseasonal weather due to climate change)
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
(enhancing agriculture productivity especially in rainfed areas focusing on integrated
farming, soil health management, and synergizing resource conservation)
Rainfed Area Development (RAD)
(enhancing productivity and minimizing risks associated with climatic
variability’s. Under this system, crops/cropping system is integrated with
activities like horticulture, livestock, fishery, agro-forestry, apiculture etc.)
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)
(‘Har Khet Ko Paani’ for providing end-to end solutions in irrigation supply
chain)

19. Operational land holding size of 138 million
holdings in India
Size (ha) Number (millions) %age Average size (ha)
<1. 92.8 67.1 .39
1.-2. 24.8 17.9 1.42
2.-4. 13.9 1 2.71
4.-1. 5.9 4.2 5.76
>1. .9 .7 17.38
All 138.3 1 1.15
Cost-benefit analysis of some IIFS models in North East India
Farming systems Cost Benefit ratio
Agri-horti- silvi- pisci-culture 1:2.8
Agri-horti-silvi-cultural system 1:1.4
Agri-pisci-culture 1:3.4
Rice-fish-cattle 1:1.7
Rice-fish-goat 1:1.4
Rice-fish-poultry 1:1.4
Rice-fish-duck 1:1.3
Rice-pig-fish 1:1.3
Agri-horticulture system 1:1.6
Agro-pastoral system 1:1.4
J.S. SAMRA, 4th
International Agronomy Congress, 2016

20. Diversification in rice – wheat cropping
system
Crop Sequences
Rice
equivalent
yield (t/ha)
Cost of
Cultivation
( /ha)₹
Gross
income( /ha)₹
Net
income
( /ha)₹
B.C Ratio
Rice -Wheat-GM 11.54 29,687 58,929 29,242 0.99
Rice -Maize-GM 11.23 30,562 58,477 27,915 0.91
Rice -Potato- Sunflower 23.92 46,962 1,08,515 61,553 1.31
Rice-Potato-Onion 26.94 56,212 1,21,785 65,573 1.17
Rice –Veg.-Pea-Okra 13.55 29,462 64,548 35,086 1.19
Rice-Mustard-sunflower 12.72 28,062 62,128 34,066 1.21
Rice-wheat-greengram 13.12 32,587 66,351 33,764 1.04
Rice-berseem-maize-
Cowpea(F)
14.21 26,789 66,252 39,463 1.47
Rice –Maize greengram 11.57 31,962 60,446 28,484 0.89
CD : P=(0.05) 0.88
Sharma et al., 2004, Indian J of Agronomy 49(4)

21. Diversification in rice – wheat cropping system
Sharma et al., 2004, Indian J of Agronomy 49(4)

22. Diversification and intensification of rice
based cropping system
Cropping System
Rice-equivalent
yield (t/ha)
Cost of
cultivation
(x103
/ha)₹
Net income
(x103
/ha)₹
B:C ratio
Land use
efficiency
(%)
Water
applied
(mm)
Water use
efficiency
(kgREY/h
amm)
Total
Calories
output
(x10Kcalo
ries)
Rice- wheat 10.44 31.5 37.1 1.18 65.5 520 20.07 31.14
Rice-wheat green manure 10.92 35.5 39.3 1.11 78.9 580 18.82 31.99
Rice-wheat-greengram 14.28 39.8 48.1 1.2 87.7 640 22.23 34.38
Rice-wheat-maize 14.37 46.3 49.5 1.07 90.7 760 18.9 45.9
Rice-maize + potato (IC) 20.81 66.9 61.4 0.92 73.7 630 33.03 57.99
Rice-potato onion 27.95 80.8 81.9 1.01 79.5 940 28.67 48.12
Rice-potato-onion+ maize**
30.66 91.5 92.89 1.01 94.8 1,060 28.92 61.16
Rice- potato –sunflower 21.46 65.6 57.7 0.88 83.3 760 28.23 50.49
Rice-garlic-maize 30.35 63.2 96.6 1.53 93.2 820 37.01 44.66
Rice-cabage-okra 22.41 67.1 69.5 1.04 88.5 1,000 22.4 28.08
Rice-marigold maize-greengram (IC) 20.64 61.1 60.9 0.99 85.5 760 27.16 34.04
Rice-fenugreek-maize 15.71 44.6 50.7 1.14 700 22.4 34.37
Rice-sunflower-okra 17.47 52.2 47.4 0.91 940 16.58 31.04
Rice-berseem maize + cowpea (F) 17.31 36.6 63.9 1.73 700 24.7 3104
CD (P=0.05) 1.02 4.22 - - - - -
Sharma et al., 2008, Indian J of Agronomy 53(2)

23. Cropping system Total nutrient applied in
2 years (kg/ha)
Total nutrient removed
(kg/ha)
Nutrient balance in soil
(kg/ha)
N P K N P K N P K
Rice-Wheat 440 86.0 99.6 365.0 95.6 420.2 +75.0 -9.6 -320.6
Rice-Wheat-green manure 632 139.1 198.2 380.0 99.0 437.2 +252.1 +40.1 -229.0
Rice-Wheat-green gram 480 129.0 99.6 439.5 109.3 457.3 +40.5 +19.7 -357.7
Rice Wheat-Maize 640 137.6 166.0 525.7 145.4 551.4 +112.5 -7.8 -385.4
Rice-Maize+ Potato (IC) 620 144.5 240.7 612.1 187.3 682.2 +7.9 -42.8 -441.5
Rice-Potato-Onion 700 180.6 332.0 596.2 194.8 770.1 +103.8 -14.2 -438.1
Rice-Potato-sunflower 660 189.2 265.6 550.4 172.2 662.7 +109.6 +17.0 -397.1
Rice-Garlic-Maize 640 197.8 232.4 475.0 144.3 538.9 +165.0 +53.5 -306.5
Rice-Cabbage-Okra 640 154.8 265.6 549.5 179.0 611.9 +90.5 -24.2 -346.3
Rice-Fenugreek-Maize 480 137.6 166.0 501.8 125.1 445.4 -21.8 +12.5 -279.4
Rice-sunflower-Okra 560 163.4 199.2 416.7 120.2 426.5 +143.3 +43.2 -237.3
SEm± 14.3 3.5 15.6
CD (P=0.05) 41.7 10.2 45.5
Nutrient removal and balance sheet of nutrient in
rice-based cropping system
Sabour (Bihar) Sharma et al. (2008)

24. Treatment Yield Rice yield
equivalent
(t/ha/year)
Cost of
cultivation (×
103
Rs/ha/year)
Net return (×
103
Rs/ha/year)
B:C
ratioKharif Rabi Zaid
Rice(MD)-wheat (NS) 5.30 4.61 11.7 30.6 33.4 1.10
Rice(MD)-berseem 5.35 54.06 11.2 28.7 33.1 1.15
Rice(MD)-oat (multi-cut) 5.32 35.04 8.7 24.0 23.9 0.99
Rice(MD)-potato-
greengram
5.47 24.71 0.91 18.1 56.3 43.2 0.77
Rice(LD)-wheat (late
sown)
4.99 3.24 9.8 30.2 23.8 0.79
Rice(LD)-wheat
transplanted
4.84 4.00 10.9 36.4 23.4 0.64
Rice(LD)-wheat zero till 4.81 3.63 10.4 29.1 27.9 0.96
Rice(LD)-onion 4.89 13.65 13.4 37.4 36.4 0.97
SEm± 0.3 0.6
CD (P=0.05) 1.0 1.9
Yield and economics of various rice-based crop
sequences
Faizabad, Kumar et.al(2008)

25. Faizabad; Kumar et.al (2008)
Efficiency of various rice-based crop
sequences

26. Treatment Organic C
(%)
Available N
(Kg/ha)
Available P
(Kg/ha)
Available K
(Kg/ha)
Rice(MD)-wheat (NS) 0.56 154 21.5 148
Rice(MD)-berseem 0.62 168 24.2 146
Rice(MD)-oat (multi-cut) 0.52 147 20.2 143
Rice(MD)-potato-
greengram
0.59 160 23.4 159
Rice(LD)-wheat (late
sown)
0.53 152 21.0 151
Rice(LD)-wheat
transplanted
0.53 148 20.7 153
Rice(LD)-wheat zero till 0.55 150 20.3 148
Rice(LD)-onion 0.57 159 22.8 163
Initial soil-test values 0.54 142 18.6 136
Changes in soil fertility parameter after fifth cycle as
influenced by different rice based crop sequences
Faizabad Kumar et.al (2008)

27. Cropping system Grain
yield
(t/ha)
Straw
yield
(t/ha)
Land use
efficiency
(%)
Production
efficiency
(kg
REY/ha/day)
WUE
(kg
REY/ha
-cm)
Net
return
(× 103
Rs/ha)
Rice-toria-fallow 4.08 6.41 64.20 35.72 56.0 1.58
Rice-toria-greengram 4.43 6.68 83.84 40.21 71.5 1.76
Rice-groudnut-fellow 4.26 6.67 73.33 39.94 63.9 1.55
Rice-groundnut-
greengram
4.84 7.35 90.96 41.86 72.2 1.62
Rice-groundnut-cowpea 4.63 7.10 91.96 43.12 74.7 1.64
Rice-maize-greengram 4.70 7.07 84.57 49.60 81.4 1.83
Rice-maize-cowpea 4.73 7.09 86.30 50.73 84.3 1.85
Rice-sunflower-
greengram
4.83 7.31 84.20 37.93 62.8 1.47
Rice-field pea-sesame 4.41 6.73 85.02 46.83 84.1 1.94
SEm± 0.08 0.17 - 0.86 - -
CD (P=0.05) 0.23 0.49 - 2.57 - -
Indices of resources-use efficiency and economics of different rice-
based cropping systems.
Bhuvaneshvar Bastia et al. (2008)

28. Treatment REY (kg/ha) Net return (Rs/ha) B.C. Ratio
Rice-wheat-fallow 7859 16782 1.47
Rice-wheat-greengram 12452 41522 1.96
Rice-sorghum (f)-greengram 9437 42155 2.03
Rice-castor- continue 9721 27617 1.78
Rice-mustard-greengram 12793 47632 1.17
Rice-sorghum (f)-groundnut 10211 44573 1.98
Rice-gram-cowpea (V) 11184 31557 1.78
Rice-fenugreek (V)-okra (V) 25736 96699 2.85
Rice-onion –cowpea (V) 24151 71068 1.90
Rice-gram-sesamum 10279 30059 1.78
SEm± 458 877
CD (P=0.05) 1294 2605
Rice equivalent yield (REY) and economics of different rice-
based crop sequences (pooled data of 4 years )
Navsari Dungrani et al. (2008)

29. Treatment Return ( /ha)₹ Gross
return
( /ha)₹
REY
(t/ha)
Productivity
(kg/ha/day)
Net
return
( /ha)₹
Profitability
( /ha/day)₹
B:C
ratio
Main
product
yield
By
product
yield
Rice-wheat 58045 8400 66445 11.07 30.34 34719 95.32 1.10
Hybrid rice-vegetable
pea-green gram
70260 1300 71560 11.93 32.68 33733 92.42 0.89
Hybrid rice-vegetable
pea-wheat-vegetable
cowpea
89940 8240 98180 16.36 44.83 55693 152.58 1.31
Maize+ vegetable
cowpea + sesbania-lentil
+ mustard-green gram
102000 4938 106938 17.82 48.83 64495 176.70 1.52
Maize+ cowpea-wheat –
green gram
84800 10629 95429 15.90 43.57 55886 153.11 1.41
Pigeon pea + black gram
– wheat- green gram
81600 10418 92018 15.34 42.02 53834 147.49 1.41
Sorghum+ cowpea –
maize + black gram –
onion
165000 1780 166780 27.80 76.16 106935 292.97 1.79
Bio-intensive complimentary cropping systems for higher
productivity and profitability as alternative to rice-wheat
Modipuram, Gangwar et al. (2008)

30. Treatment Grain yield
(t/ha)
REY
(t/ha/year)
Cost of
cultivation
( /ha/year₹
)
Net
returns
( /ha/year₹
)
B:C
ratio
Rice Rabi
crop
Rice-wheat 4.60 4.02 9.91 29669 44656 1.51
Rice- gram 4.58 2.18 13.94 26101 78224 2.99
Rice-
mustard
4.58 1.61 9.29 25360 44315 1.74
Rice-pea 4.62 1.97 11.69 26511 61164 2.31
CD (p=0.05) 0.27
Productivity and profitability of various
cropping system
Faizabad, Singh et al. (2008)

31. Diversification in rice – wheat cropping
system
Kumar et al., 2012, Indian J of Agronomy 57(4)

32. Treatment
Production
efficiency
Kg/ha/day
Land use
efficiency (%)
Apparent Nutrient
use efficiency
(kg/ha/Kg nutrient)
Energy
production (x
106
K Cal.)
System
Profitability(
/ha/day)₹
Inbred Rice –Wheat-
Fallow
28.8 73.97 22.8 33.2 211
Inbred Rice –Wheat-
GM
31 73.97 24.6 35.8 191
Hybrid Rice –Wheat-
GM
35.5 73.97 26.4 41.6 235
Hybrid Rice –Potato-
Greengram
60.4 87.67 35 54.2 392
Hybrid Rice –
Mustard-Blackgram
40.3 86.3 31.3 38.6 283
Basmati Rice-Wheat-
GM
34 77.26 27 30.9 218
Basmati Rice-
Berseem-(GF+seed)
30.8 85.2 37.5 14.8 219
Basmati Rice-lentil-
GF(Maize+Cowpea)
40 90.41 32.4 20.9 283
Kumar et al., 2012, Indian J of Agronomy 57(4)
Diversification in rice – wheat cropping
system

33. Diversification through intercropping
Layek et al., 2015, Indian J of Agronomy 60(2)

34. Layek et al., 2015, Indian J of Agronomy 60(2)
Diversification through intercropping

35. Diversification of cereal – cereal (maize – wheat)cs
Cropping system Maize grain
equivalent
yield (t/ha)
Cost of
Cultiva
tion
(X103
/₹
ha)
Net
returns
(X103
/₹
ha)
BC
ratio
LUE
(%)
PE
(kg/ha/
day)
ME SYI SVI
( /ha/d₹
ay)
Maize- wheat 6.78 25.4 49 2.93 64.4 28.9 208.7 0.5 0.49
Maize-barley 5.78 24.5 41.3 2.69 63.8 24.8 177.4 0.45 0.37
Maize-blackgram (2:2)-
wheat
8.22 29.8 57.5 2.93 64.9 34.7 242.8 0.65 0.55
Sogham + greengram (2:1)
- wheat
7.03 28.1 49.6 2.77 63 30.6 215.7 0.57 0.48
Clusterbean-wheat 6.95 23.8 51.7 3.18 62.5 30.5 226.9 0.58 0.48
CD(P=0.05) 0.28 2.9 0.11
LUE – Land use efficiency, PE – Production Efficiency, ME – Monetary Efficiency, SYI –
Sustainable Yield Index, SVI – Sustainable Value Index
Jain et al., 2015, Indian J of Agronomy 60(3)

36. Diversification of cereal – cereal (maize –
wheat) CS
Cropping system
Total
input
energy
(X103
MJ/ha)
Total
output
energy
(X 105
MJ/ha)
Energy
output
efficiency
(M/ha/day)
Energy
Productivity
(g/MJ)
Energy
intensiveness
(MJ/ )₹
Energy
use
efficiency
Specific
energy
(MJ/Kg)
Maize-Wheat 34.55 226.5 963.9 196.2 8.92 6.56 5.10
Maize-barley 29.12 229.5 984.9 198.4 9.37 7.88 5.04
Maize + blackgram
(2:2)-wheat
36.97 234.2 988.3 222.4 7.86 6.34 4.50
Sorgham +
greengrm (2:1)-
wheat
35.58 226.1 982.8 197.5 8.05 6.35 5.06
Clasterbean -wheat 28.97 146.8 643.9 240.0 6.18 5.07 4.17
Jain et al., 2015, Indian J of Agronomy 60(3)

37. Diversification in rice based cropping system
Cropping system
Rice Equivalent
Yield (t/ha)
Sustainable
yield index
System
duration
(day)
Land Use
efficiency(%)
ANUE(kg
REY/kg
NPK/applied)
Irrigation water
use efficiency (kg
REY/ha/cm)
Rice- goundnut 10.52 0.36 238 67.2 52.3 150.3
Rice-toria 7.11 0.25 197 54 31.1 74.83
Rice- groundnut-greengram 14.66 0.51 305 83.6 54 154.3
Rice- groundnut-cowpea 14.21 0.49 303 83 49 149.6
Rice- groundnut-bottle gourd 18.57 0.66 303 83 60.8 195.5
Rice-toria-greengram 11.29 0.4 264 72.3 37.7 141.2
Rice-radish-cowpea 14.94 0.54 239 65.5 42.1 213.4
Rice-radish-greengram 15.04 0.55 241 66 44.8 214.9
Rice-rajma-greengram 13.87 0.51 276 75.6 39.4 163.1
Rice-maize cowpea 19.55 0.64 270 74 47 230
CD(P=0.05) 1.37 -- -- - 7.79 31.28
Patra et al., 2018, Indian J of Agronomy 62(4)

38. Energetics of a rice based CS
Cropping system Energy
input
(X103
MJ/ha)
Energy
output
(X103
MJ/ha)
Energy
use
efficiency
Energy
output
efficiency
(X103
MJ/haday)
Energy
productivity
(kg/REY/MJ)
System
productivity
(kg
REY/ha/day)
Production
efficiency
(kgREY/ha
/day)
Relative
Production
efficiency
(%)
Rice- groundnut 43.79 248.4 5.67 1.04 0.24 28.8 44.2 -
Rice-toria 36.01 210.1 5.84 1.07 0.2 19.5 36.1 -32.4
Rice- groundnut-
greengram
56.01 297.9 5.32 0.98 0.26 40.2 48.1 39.4
Rice- groundnut-
cowpea
57.54 312.2 5.43 1.03 0.25 38.9 46.9 35.1
Rice- groundnut-bottle
gourd
58.57 274 4.68 0.9 0.32 50.9 61.3 76.5
Rice-toria - greengram 48.23 258.9 5.37 0.98 0.23 30.9 42.8 7.4
Rice-radish-cowpea 47.75 266.2 5.57 1.11 0.31 40.9 62.5 42
Rice-radish-greengram 46.22 263.6 5.7 1.09 0.33 41.2 62.4 43
Rice-rajma- greengram 50.62 272.7 5.39 0.99 0.27 38 50.2 31.8
Rice-maize cowpea 56.88 335 5.89 1.24 0.34 53.6 72.4 85.8
CD(P=0.05) - 17.63 0.42 0.05 0.03 3.75 8.68 -
Patra et al., 2018, Indian J of Agronomy 62(4)

39. Profitability and employment generation
options through diversification
Cropping sequences
Man-days
employment
of the system
(Day)
Employmen
t generation
efficiency
(%)
Cost of
cultivation
(x103
/ha)₹
Net
returns
(x103
/ha₹
)
BC
ratio
Crop
Profitability
( /ha/day)₹
System
profitability
( /ha/day)₹
Relative
economic
efficienc
y (%)
Rice- goundnut 320 87.7 72 50.3 1.7 211 138 --
Rice-toria 270 74 51.5 33 1.64 168 90 -34.4
Rice- groundnut-
greengram
385 105.5 94 73.8 1.78 242 202 46.6
Rice- groundnut-cowpea 438 120 98.5 64.6 1.66 213 177 28.3
Rice- groundnut-bottle
gourd
440 91.8 98.5 111.8 2.13 369 306 122.1
Rice-toria-greengram 335 107.1 73.5 56.8 1.77 215 156 13
Rice-radish-cowpea 391 92.6 78.5 92.1 2.17 385 252 83
Rice-radish-greengram 338 87.7 74 97.9 2.32 406 268 94.6
Rice-rajma-greengram 320 124.7 80.5 78.9 1.98 286 216 56.7
Rice-maize cowpea 455 -- 86.6 135.1 2.56 500 370 168.5
CD(P=0.05) -- -- 10.28 -- 44.25 28.1 --
Patra et al., 2018, Indian J of Agronomy 62(4)

40. Treatment Mustard
seed
yield
(kg/ha)
Bajara/
lucerne yield
(kg/ha)
Mustard
equivalent
yield
(kg/ha)
Net
returns
(Rs/ha)
B:C
ratio
WUE
(kg/ha
-mm)
Seed Fodder
Mustard sole crop 1771 - 1771 21107 2.35 6.11
Mustard-summer bajara 1876 3072 9153 3455 35030 1.82 4.37
Mustard +Lucerne mixed in
line sowing
1853 528 3738 43826 3.11 7.63
Mustard +Lucerne (1:1),
lucerne sown at the time of first
irrigation to mustard
1822 331 3033 33299 2.34 6.19
Mustard (line sowing)+ lucerne
broadcasting at the time of first
irrigation to mustard
1925 455 3498 41125 2.87 7.14
broadcasting at the time of first
irrigation to mustard
1817 483 3523 40464 2.78 7.19
CD (p=0.05) NS 322
Yield and economics of different
treatments
S.K.Nagar Patel et al. (2007 a)

41. Treatment Yield PEY Gross
return
(RS/ha)
Cost of
cultivati
on
(RS/ha)
Net
return
e
(RS/ha
)
B:C
ratioRabi Kharif Summer
Tobacco-maize-
dhaincha (GM)
2894 3018 27778* 7141 139242 62495 76747 2.21
Pigeonpea-sesame-
okra
817 497 3544* 2634 51354 36167 15188 1.42
Pigeonpea-maize-
sesame
1720 2755 372 3120 60844 36815 24029 1.65
Pigeonpea-cowpea-
sesame
1132 3029 404 2137 41665 30695 10970 1.36
Wheat-
elephantyam+
black gram
4778
(G)
485
(S)
560 28121 7782 151756 68469 83288 2.22
Crop yield, pigeon pea equivalent yield (PEY) and
economics of cropping sequences
fresh weight, G- grain, S-straw Patna (Bihar) Singh et al. (2008)

42. Research activities
 It is always desirable to change the crops and cropping system in
certain years.
 The choice of crops or cropping system depending upon price, soil
fertility and pest build up will be desirable.
 Synthesize or decide the most suitable system on considering
productivity.
 Choice of suitable variety is very important to fit in the system
with high productivity.
 Under the diversified intensive system of cropping, contingent
planning is also important.
 Therefore, suitable adjustments should to be made as per
emerging needs and prospects.

43. Future thrust
 Inclusion of high value crops through horizontal and
vertical diversification approach.
 Need to synthesize high potential cropping systems and
evaluate both on station and on farm in farmers
participatory approach.
 The crop varieties short in duration with high potential
yield and most suited for the synthesized systems needs to
be identified.
 The location specific approaches and full packages need to
be prepared.
 For arid and semi arid areas the crops and cropping
systems for long term sustainability should be preferred.

44. Conclusion
Crop diversification is not only a shift from
traditional and less remunerative crops to more
remunerative crops but it is a demand driven, need
based situation specific and national goal seeking
continuous and dynamic concept and involves spatial,
temporal, value addition and resource complementary
approaches.