Abstract
A field experiment was conducted during the summer and rainy seasons of 1994 and 1995 at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani (23.5° N, 89° E), West Bengal, India, to study the effect of K fertilizer management on dry matter (DM) accumulation, productivity, competition functions, K uptake, and K balance in the soil under intercropped soya bean (Glycine max L. Merrill) and sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). The combined DM production of the intercrops during both the summer and rainy seasons (748.2 and 723.2 g m-2, respectively) was considerably higher than the DM produced by soya bean as sole crop (518.6 g and 546.4 g m-2) or sesame as sole crop (728.9 g and 657.5 g m-2). The highest area time equivalent ratios (1.58 and 1.62, respectively) were recorded with the application of 40 kg ha-1 each of K2O and N. As per the competitive ratio (CR) obtained, sesame was the predominant crop in the summer (CR = 1.14) and soya bean was the predominant crop in the rainy season (CR = 1.05). The maximum K uptake (121.33 and 133.27 kg ha-1) was observed in the intercropping system with the application of 80 kg K2O ha-1 along with 40 kg N ha-1. The maximum K balance (360.6 kg K ha-1) in the intercropped soya-bean-sesame was recorded when all the crops in the system received 40 kg K2O ha-1 together with 40 kg N ha-1.
