Comparative efficacy of organic, integrated and chemical farming in maize under Maize-wheat cropping system

The field experiment with maize-wheat system was conducted during kharif 2001 and 2002 by keeping organic (pure), integrated (partial) and chemical farming systems at the experimental farm of the department of Agronomy and Agromet, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana on sandy loam soil. In maize-wheat sequence on an average, M₂₀-M₂₀-RI (FYM 20 t/ha to maize, 20 t/ha to wheat and incorporation of residues of both crops), M₁₀-M₁₅-GM-RI (GM-green manuring), Rec.-GM-RI (Rec.-recommended chemical fertilizers) and Rec.-GM-R0 (R0- residue removed), pure and partial organic farming treatments gave 11.5, 7.2, 8.3 and 6.6 per cent higher maize grain yield than the recommended chemical fertilizer (Rec.) treatment. M₂₀-M₂₀ RI, M₁₀-M₁₅-GM-RI, Rec.-GM-RI and Rec.-GM-R0, pure and partial organic farming treatments produced significantly higher plant height, dry matter accumulation, leaf area index, PARI (%), cob length and number of grains/cob. Pure and partial organic treatments recorded higher root density, number of cobs/plant, stem girth, cob girth and number of grain rows per cob than pure chemical farming treatments. Pure and partial organic farming treatments showed less canopy and soil temperature as compared to chemical farming treatments.