International Journal of Horticulture, 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 299-311 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 310 intercropping system as well as than solo cropping of potato and maize (Begum et al., 2016). Intercropping of winter maize with potato irrespective of its varieties with 50% recommended fertilizer dose of potato as additional to maize was found more productive and advantageous on a system basis in calcareous soil of North Bihar (Singh et al., 2015). Hybrid maize sown 30 days after potato planting was found the most productive and profitable intercropping system for getting higher potato equivalent yield and monetary advantages without affecting the main crop yield (Begum et al., 2017). Intercropping increase soil water storage deficit degree in the deeper soil layer, which means that is consume less soil water than expected from the crop yield obtained in mono cropping which was beneficial towards promoting crop yield and water use efficiency in the semi-arid environment. Potato is a shade loving crop and thus above ground shading from intercropped maize might be beneficial for the growth and yield and promoting land productivity and water use efficiency when compare to mono cropping (Xie et al., 2021). Maize and potato are the most adoptable and major crops as food and cash crop , both are of equal importance to the farmer because they can gain comparable economic returns or can satisfy subsistence requirement equally (Kidane et al., 2017). Seasonal price variation was the major market problem (Kalwar et al., 2024). The result is consistent with the R2 value of 0.72 reported by Raina et al. (2024) in the solo cropping system. Yield increase under solo cropping opposed to intercropping treatments might be attributed to the higher plant population and decrease in their competition among plants. Maize and Potato are the most adaptable and major crops as food and cash crops (Anon, 2017). Both crops are of equal importance to the farmer because they can gain comparable economic returns or can subsistence requirement equally, Given the unpredictable rainy season and different water requirement of each crop, planting maize and potato together gives the farmer a better chance that either crop will survive. 5 Conclusion The profitability and resource efficiency of solo and mixed potato cropping were assessed, revealing that mixed cropping with maize resulted in a significantly higher benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 2.77 compared to 1.62 for solo potato cropping. The analysis of yield variation, input costs, and income generation indicated that while the total cost of solo cropping was NRs/ha 193,123, mixed cropping incurred a total cost of NRs/ha 228,557. However, the average benefits from mixed cropping reached NRs/ha 379,915, compared to NRs/ha 100,523 from solo potato cropping. Additionally, the socioeconomic traits of farmers were examined, highlighting the potential for increased economic returns through mixed cropping practices in the Rasuwa district. Overall, the findings demonstrated that mixed cropping was more economical than solo potato cropping, emphasizing the advantages of diversification in agricultural practices for enhanced profitability and resource utilization. Authors’ contributions PY conceptualized the research, collected, entered and analysed data, and prepared manuscript. SY involved in methodology, data entry and analysis, preparing manuscript, editing and proofreading the manuscript. BC entered and analysed data, prepared and proofread the manuscript. SP involved in methodology, preparing manuscript, editing and proofreading the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Fund Statement No funding was obtained for this research. Conflict of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. References Anon., 2017, Maize and potato intercropping: A technology to increase productivity and profitability in Tigray, Open Agriculture, 2(1): 411-416. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opag-2017-0044/html Begum A.A., Bhuiya M.S.U., Hossain S.M., Khatun A., and Das S.K., 2016, Effect of planting system of potato and plant density of maize on productivity of potato-hybrid maize intercropping system, Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Research, 41: 397-409. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v41i3.29711
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