Assessing Crop Growth Indices of Nadia Variety of Ginger (Zingiberofficinale Rosc.) under Legume Intercropping and Weed Management Practices

A study was initiated in Instruction-cum-Research Farm of Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat-13, Assam, India during 2014-15 and 2015-16. The objective of this experiment is to understand the impact of legume intercropping system in combination with different weed management practices on the growth indices of ginger crop. Nadia, a commercially grown variety of ginger in Assam was examined in the current study. A total of 16 treatment combinations were considered which comprised of 4 intercropping systems along with 4 weed management practices. Amongst the legume intercropping, Cowpea in between rows of Ginger; incorporated at 40 days after sowing (DAS) and Cowpea in alternate rows of Ginger; incorporated at 40 DAS recorded better results in terms of Leaf area index (LAI), Crop growth rate (CGR), Absolute growth rate (AGR) and yield of Nadia variety ginger. Whereas amongst the weed management practices, pre-emergence application of Metribuzin 500 g ai ha-1 + hand weeding (HW) at 70, 100 and 140 days after planting (DAP) scored higher in growth indices and ginger yield, but neither the legume intercropping systems nor the weed management treatments had any significant impact on harvest index.