Productivity, profitability, and energy dynamics of different cropping systems on broad-bed and furrows in the Gangetic flood plain of West Bengal

A field experiment was conducted at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal to assess the productivity, profitability, and resource efficiency of different cropping systems on broad bed and furrow (BBF) over low land traditional rice-rice system. Five cropping systems viz. T1: elephant foot yam-brinjal (BB): kharif rice+fishsummer rice (F), T2: ridge gourd-potato-pumpkin (BB): kharif rice+fish- summer rice (F), T3: okra-bottle gourdbasella (BB): kharif rice+fish- summer rice (F), T4: elephant foot yam–marigold (BB): kharif rice+fish- summer rice (F), T5: maize- brinjal-greengram(BB):kharif rice+fish- summer rice (F) were assessed against farmers’ practice T6: kharif rice-summer rice during 2018-19 to 2021-22 under four times replicated randomized block design. The highest rice-equivalent yield was recorded in the T4 (95.62 t/ha) system followed by T3 (93.93 t/ha), T1 (91.92 t/ha), and the lowest in rice-rice (15.76 t/ha). The highest productivity (262 kg/ha/day) was also recorded in T4, but the highest net return (`4,68,377/ha), profitability (`1,283/ha/day) and B: C ratio (3.75) recorded in T3. However, the T4 system showed better land-utilization efficiency (85.21%), and all the BBF treatments recorded higher LUE than rice-rice. T3 system also showed higher irrigation water-use efficiency (2,125 kg/ha-cm), employment generation (475 mandays), net energy production (600.81 x 103 MJ/ha), energy productivity (2.25 kg/MJ), and energy use efficiency (15.45) than the other systems. Overall, results inferred that cultivation of okra-bottle gourd-basella or elephant foot yam–marigold crop sequence in broad bed along with kharif rice+fish-summer rice sequence in-furrow is a productive and profitable production system in the Gangetic flood plain of West Bengal.