Influence of Intercropping Green Gram with Two Paddy Varieties on Growth, Yield and its Components to Increase Economic Returns

A field experiment was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka to investigate the effects of intercropping green gram on the growth and yield parameters of two varieties of paddy; Suwandel (traditional variety) and At 307 (improved variety) during the period of July to November 2022. The experiment was laid out in a 2 x 2 Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design with four treatments as monocropping Suwandel (T1), intercropping Suwandel with green gram (T2), monocropping At 307 (T3) and intercropping At 307 with green gram (T4), that were replicated five times. Significant differences in leaf area, shoot dry weight, 1000 seeds weight and grain yield were observed in the paddy-green gram intercropping system compared to the monocropping of paddy. Significant synergistic responses were also observed among the treatments, where the leaf area and shoot dry weight were the highest in Suwandel + green gram intercropping system and the 1000 seeds weight was the highest in At 307-green gram intercropping system. However, the cost-benefit analysis revealed that the net profit received from Suwandel + green gram intercropping system was 36.6% higher than the At 307-green gram intercropping system. Therefore, it was evident from the present study that the Suwandel + green gram intercropping system is an environmentally friendly sustainable approach to grow paddy without synthetic fertilizers.