Evaluation of productivity and profitability of summer season forage cowpea at varying jeevamrit formulations and their application interval

Abstract

The concept of ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’ is gaining popularity among the farmers due to their increasing awareness about soil, plant, animal and human health as well as increasing cultivation cost. The present study was carried out to optimize the jeevamarit formulation and their spraying interval in summer forage cowpea. The experiment was conducted with treatments consisting of three jeevamrit formulations viz. jeevamrit-1 (5 kg cow dung + 2.5-liter cow urine), jeevamrit-2 (10 kg cow dung + 5-liter cow urine) and jeevamrit-3 (15 kg cow dung + 7.5-liter cow urine); and three spraying intervals (at every one, two and three week’s intervals). The results revealed that both formulations and their spraying interval had a significant effect on fodder yield, nutritional quality, net energy for lactation, nutrient uptake, net returns and benefit cost ratio. The maximum green fodder yield was recorded with spraying of jeevamrit formulations-3 at every 2-week interval (32.4 t ha-1). The maximum net returns (Rs 22853 ha-1) and B:C ratio (1.81) was recorded with spraying of jeevamrit formulations-2 at every 2-week intervals. Thus, spraying of jeevamrit formulations-2 at every 2-week interval was found to be most effective for maximum productivity, profitability and quality of summer season forage cowpea.