Productivity and profitability of seed dhaincha (Sesbania cannabina) + relay yard long bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) under different date of planting and row spacing

A field experiment was conducted at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, during the rainy (kharif) 2019 and winter (rabi) season 201920, to study the effect of date of planting and row spacing on the performance of seed dhaincha [Sesbania cannabina (Retz.) Pers.] and relay yard long bean [Vigna unguiculata subsp. Sequipedalis (L.) Verdc.]. The treatments comprising 5 dates of planting of dhaincha, viz. onset of monsoon (13 June), and one (20 June), two (27 June), three (4 July) and four (11 July) week(s) after onset of the monsoon, and 3 row spacing, viz. 80, 120 and 160 cm, giving rise to 15 treatment combinations, were tried in split-plot design with 3 replications. The dates of planting and row spacings were allocated to the main and the sub plots, respectively. Yard long bean (bodi) was planted as relay crop after the first picking and before final harvesting of dhaincha. Planting dhaincha on 13 June at row spacing of 80 cm resulted in the maximum seed yield of 1.27 t/ha, while planting on 13 June at row spacing of 120 cm and planting on 20 June at row spacing of 80 and 120 cm recorded statistically similar seed yield. Planting of yard long bean on 5 October at row spacing of 80 cm gave the maximum fresh pod yield of 2.83 t/ha and planting on 5 October at row spacing of 120 cm and planting on 12 October at row spacing of 80 and 120 cm exhibited statistically similar fresh pod yield. Planting dhaincha on 13 June and relay yard long bean on 5 October at the closest row spacing of 80 cm resulted in the maximum system productivity (dhaincha seed-equivalent yield) of 3.06 t/ha, the maximum gross return of 192.68 103 `/ha and the maximum net return of 96.17 103`/ha. All combinations of 2 earliest date of planting (13 and 20 June) and the closest and the moderate row spacing (80 cm and 120 cm) remained at par for these productivity and profitability indices