Influence of various cropping systems on composition of surface runoff

Field experiment was undertaken at Agronomy Farm, Gujarat Agricultural Univ ersity, Anand Campus, Anand, during 1992-93 and 1993-94, to study the effec t of various cropping systems on composition of surface runoff water and er oded sediments using runoff piers, with ten treatments consisting of sole c rop of pearl millet (PM), pigeonpea (PP), bidi-tobacco (BT) and groundnut ( GN) and their intercropping systems (PM+GN, PP+GN, BT+GN and PM+PP), includ ing cultivated (CF) and absolute fallow (AF) treatments. The content of var ious nutrients (N, P, K) in runoff water and sediment fractions was the hig hest under sole groundnut crop. Groundnut as intercrop with bidi-tobacco an d pigeonpea crops increased the content of various nutrients in runoff wate r arid in sediment fractions in comparison to that in respective sole crops . Among various cropping systems, sediment density under sole groundnut plo t was significantly lower (2572 mg L-1) than in the rest of the cropping sy stems. A significant reduction in sediment density was observed when ground nut crop was taken as intercrop with bidi-tobacco and pigeonpea crops, than that under their respective sole crops.