Effect of set-furrow cultivation in pigeonpea + pearlmillet and pigeonpea + sesame intercropping systems in shallow black soil under rainfed conditions

A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station; Gulbarga (North Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka) on shallow black soil during kharif seasons of 2005 and 2006 to assess the performance of pigeonpea based cropping systems under different row proportions under set-furrow cultivation. The treatment consists of pigeonpea, pearlmillet and sesame in sole stand as well as intercropping systems under set-furrow as well as flat bed method of land configuration. Application of vermicompost in set-furrows significantly increased the soil moisture content at sowing and at all the growth stages of pigeonpea. The intercropping of pigeonpea with sesame and pearlmillet under different row proportions as influenced by set-furrow land configurations significantly increased the moisture content when compared to flat bed system. Application of vermicompost in set-furrows significantly increased the water stable aggregates, per cent pore space, maximum water holding capacity and infiltration rate as compared to flat bed system. The Intercropped pigeonpea + sesame (1:2) system under set-furrow with vermicompost applied @ 2.5 t ha -1 recorded significantly higher seed yi eld (15.58 q ha -1 ) and stalk yield (34.31 q ha -1 ) as compared to flat bed method (12.96 q ha -1 and 28.76 q ha