System productivity of the sweet potato-green gram-maize cropping system under Integrated Nutrient Management (INM)

One cropping system is incompatible with a diverse array of agro-climatic conditions in India. The soils of Bihar are characterized by fertility and productivity. Farmers mostly choose the rice-wheat cropping system, but it reduces crop diversity, which has an effect on the long-term viability of agriculture. This experiment aimed to investigate the impact of integrated nutrient management (INM) on the growth and yield indices of sweet potato, considering the previously mentioned factors. The field experiment took place at the Research Farm of Tirhut College of Agriculture, RPCAU, in Dholi, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, over two cropping seasons from 2023 to 2024. The experiment lay out in split-plot design comprising three main plots and three sub-plot treatments. The three main plots for sweet potato applied chemical fertilizers as follows: F₁: RDF (100%) - (100:60:100 kg N:P₂O₅:K₂O)/ha, F₂: RDF (125%) - (125:75:125 kg N:P₂O₅:K₂O)/ha, and F₃: RDF (75%) - (75:45:75 kg N:P₂O₅:K₂O)/ha. The experimental subplots involved organic manures: M₁: FYM @ 15 t/ha, M₂: Vermicompost @ 7.5 t/ha, and M₃: No organic manure. Treatments were assigned randomly to each plot. The findings indicated that chemical fertilizer application of F₂: RDF (125%) - (125:75:125 kg N:P₂O₅:K₂O)/ha along with organic manure application of M₁: FYM @ 15 t/ha recorded significantly higher sweet potato equivalent yield of green gram, sweet potato equivalent yield of maize and system productivity in the sweet potato - green gram - maize cropping system.