Protein content enhanced in soybean under aonla-based agroforestry system

An experiment on aonla-soybean intercropping was conducted at the experimental farm of the Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Neri–Hamirpur, H.P., India during the year 2020–21 with an objective to determine the effect of aonla trees on growth, yield and quality parameters of soybean crop. The experiment was laid out in randomised complete block design (02 factorial) to determine the effect of the trees on growth and yield parameters of soybean crop in four directions (east, west, north and south) at three distances (1, 2 and 3 m) from the trees. The quality parameters of soybean were estimated at three distances (1, 2 and 3 m) from aonla trees having composite sample from all the directions, distance wise and in open grown crop with total four treatments. The treatments were replicated five times and data were analysed using randomised complete block design. In another experiment, the agroforestry system comprising aonla + soybean was compared with the sole soybean cropping system employing student’s t-test. The results showed that the growth and yield of intercropped soybean increased with an increase in the distance of crop from aonla trees and revealed significantly higher values at 3 m distance from trees as compared to the sole crop. Among directions, the highest yield was obtained in the east direction. The biochemical analysis exhibited that the photosynthetic pigments (total chlorophyll and carotenoids) of soybean leaves were lower under aonla as compared to sole cropping. The contents of total soluble protein and total carbohydrates were significantly higher in the seeds of soybean crop raised underneath aonla over the sole crop. Overall, aonla + soybean system revealed positive interactions between the components, therefore recommended for the farmers from ecological and economical perspective.