Influence of Eucalyptus Agroforestry on Crop Yields, Soil Properties, and System Economics in Southern Regions of India

Karuppanan Ramasamy Ramesh, Harshavardhan Krishnarao Deshmukh, Karthikeyan Sivakumar, Vipan Guleria, Rathod Digvijaysinh Umedsinh, Nathakrishnan Krishnakumar, Alagesan Thangamalar, Kathirvel Suganya, Mariyappan Kiruba, Thiru Selvan, Padmanaban Balasubramanian, Chinnaswamy Ushamalini, Gurusamy Thiyagarajan, Saminathan Vincent, Palani Rajeswari, Shanmugavel Bavish, Arsha Riaz and Kuppusamy Senthil ()
Additional contact information
Karuppanan Ramasamy Ramesh: Department of Silviculture & NRM, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Harshavardhan Krishnarao Deshmukh: College of Forestry, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola 444104, India
Karthikeyan Sivakumar: KVK, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Dharmapuri 636809, India
Vipan Guleria: Regional Horticultural Research & Training Station, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Kangra 176201, India
Rathod Digvijaysinh Umedsinh: Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur 482021, India
Nathakrishnan Krishnakumar: Forest Range Officer, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Dindigul 624001, India
Alagesan Thangamalar: Department of Sericulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Kathirvel Suganya: Department of Silviculture & NRM, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Mariyappan Kiruba: Department of Forest Products & Wildlife, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Thiru Selvan: Department of Forestry & Biodiversity, Tripura University, Agartala 799022, India
Padmanaban Balasubramanian: Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Chinnaswamy Ushamalini: Department of Silviculture & NRM, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Gurusamy Thiyagarajan: Department of Irrigation & Drainage Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Trichy 621712, India
Saminathan Vincent: Department of Plant Physiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Palani Rajeswari: Department of Sericulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Shanmugavel Bavish: Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Arsha Riaz: Department of Silviculture & NRM, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
Kuppusamy Senthil: Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Agroforestry benefits farmers, making it a sustainable alternative to monoculture. To create a viable Eucalyptus clone-based agroforestry system, a field experiment was carried out in Tamil Nadu, India. The economics and changes in the soil qualities were evaluated by growing agricultural and horticultural crops, namely pearl millet, sorghum, maize, sesame, small onions, green gram, and red gram, as intercrops under eight-month-old eucalyptus clone trees using a randomised block design in three replications at a spacing of 3 m × 1.5 m. The plots for the intercrops and the eucalyptus clones were kept apart for comparison. Maize showed the greatest drop in plant height during all the phases, including 30 DAS, 60 DAS, and harvest, while small onions showed the least reduction in plant height. Sesame and small onions showed the greatest drop in dry matter production, whereas sorghum showed the least. In terms of the intercrop yield reduction, maize had the biggest reduction and green gram had the lowest. Red gram had the largest crop equivalent yield, whereas maize had the lowest. The volume of the trees was generally increased more favourably by red gram than by green gram. The intercrops had some effects on the nutrients in the soil. Red gram intercropping had the highest levels of EC, soil organic carbon, available soil nitrogen, available soil phosphorus, and available soil potassium, while the sole tree treatment had the lowest levels. Small onions, red gram, and sesame were the crops; tree + small onion, tree + red gram, and tree + sesame were the intercrop combinations with the highest gross income, net income, and B:C in the intercropping treatment alone. Tree + green gram had the highest land equivalent ratio (LER) and the red gram, sesame, and small onion intercrops were shown to be the most profitable. Although the present study supports a complementary relationship, the lack of awareness among farmers of Eucalyptus allelopathy formed the major limitation.

Keywords: intercrops; Eucalyptus; agroforestry system; economics; soil properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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