Vol. 9, Special Issue 11, Part M (2025)

Intercropping maize with cowpea can optimize resource use and enhance productivity, especially under varied nutrient management systems. A field experiment was conducted during for two consecutive years (2021-22) during kharif season IGKV-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mahasamund to examines how different nutrient management practices viz. Natural Farming, Conventional Farming, Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), Organic Farming (50% FYM + 50% Vermicompost), FYM (100%), and Vermicompost (100%), affects growth performance, crop yield, biomass yield and nutrient uptake and overall system productivity in a maize-cowpea intercropping system in Chhattisgarh. Recommended package of practices by IGKV, Raipur was adopted in this study. It was found that crop under INM significantly improves both maize and cowpea yields recorded the highest gross return and B:C ratio during both years, whereas Vermicompost 100% showed the lowest profitability due to high input cost. Additionally, INM practices reduced nutrient losses and environmental risks, promoting eco-friendly and sustainable farming systems. Natural Farming maintained moderate profitability owing to lower cultivation cost. These findings suggest that integrated nutrient management in maize-cowpea intercropping can boost productivity while supporting long-term soil fertility in Chhattisgarh’s agro-ecosystems.