~ 93 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2022; 10(5):93-97 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2022; 10(5): 93-97 © 2022 IJCS Received: 12-06-2022 Accepted: 15-07-2022 Gangadhar K Ph.D. Scholar, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India Dr. JS Yadav Principal Scientist, Department of Agronomy, AICRP on Castor, Regional Research Station, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India Dr. Anil Kumar Yadav Principal Scientist, Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India Corresponding Author: Gangadhar K Ph.D. Scholar, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India Impact of intercropping system on castor growth and production under the semi-arid region of Haryana Gangadhar K, Dr. JS Yadav and Dr. Anil Kumar Yadav Abstract The field experiment entitled "Effect of different legume, cereal and oilseed intercrops on castor (Ricinus communis L.) Productivity under the semi-arid region of Haryana" was conducted at Regional Research station, Bawal, CCS HAU during the kharif season of 2020-21, with the objectives to find out best suitable intercrops viz., greengram, pearl millet and sesame for castor intercropping system with respect to castor growth and production under two different row spacings of 150 and 200 cm. The results showed that significantly higher number of branches, length of primary spike, number of spikes plant -1 , number of capsules primary spike -1 , seed index and yield (seed and stalk) were recorded with values of 3,879 kg ha -1 and 5,656 kg ha -1 , respectively in the sole castor (200 cm) which was at par with castor sole (150 cm) and castor (150 cm) + mungbean (1:2) intercropping system. The highest castor equivalent yield (4220 kg ha -1 ) was obtained in castor (200 cm) + mungbean (1:4). Keywords: Sole, intercrops, growth, productivity, spacing, branches, spike, capsules, yield Introduction Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is an indeterminate and non-edible oilseed crop. It belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to Eastern Africa and originated in Ethiopia. Cultivated in low rainfall regions (drought tolerant) of the semi-arid region of India. India is the largest producer of castor in the world. Castor seeds contain 50-55 percent oil and are the world's second-largest source of non-edible oil. Castor oil is mainly used for the manufacture of wide range of ever-expanding industrial products such as nylon fibres, jet engine lubricants, hydraulic fluids, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals. Castor oil is a good choice for converting oil in to bio-diesel. Castor cake provides highly concentrated organic manure with 4.5, 2.6 and 1.2 percent of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash, respectively and it also offers 22.37 percent protein and 45-46 percent of carbohydrates. However, castor is a long-term, widely spaced crop with a comparatively thin population of plants, providing scope for intercropping with quick growing and short duration food grain (cereal), pulse and oilseed crops in appropriate geometry to increase the growth, yield attributes and yield per unit area. Advantage of intercropping in castor can be increased by reorienting crop geometry for better availability of solar energy (Willey, 1981) [11] and putting suitable intercrops. Intercropping has been recognized as a potentially beneficial system of crop production which can provide sustained yield advantages compared to sole cropping. By looking to good proposal of castor in irrigated ecosystem of Southern-Western Haryana this research was conducted to realize higher net return. In order to have best utilization of available resources, present study was planned with crop geometry and short duration intercrop between underutilized inter row space on account of initial slow growth of castor. Material and Methods A field experiment was conducted during 2020-21 at Regional Research Station, Bawal (Rewari), CCS Haryana Agricultural University. The soil of the experimental field was loamy sand in texture and slightly alkaline in reaction (pH 8.5), low in organic carbon (0.21%) and nitrogen (125 kg ha -1 ), medium in available phosphorus (16.2 kg ha -1 ) and potassium (195.4 kg ha -1 ). The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with three replications. The intercropping system comprising of castor + greengram, castor + pearl millet and castor + sesame, under two level of row spacing of castor, viz., 150 and 200 cm and eleven treatment