A field experiment was conducted with eight seasonal spice crops grown as intercrops in cashew plantation in comparison with sole crop, in open area to work out the economic potential and land equivalent ratio under the northern transition zone of Karnataka (zone-8) during 2011-12. The economics worked for intercropping and sole cropping situation differed significantly with regard to gross return and net profit per hectare. Higher gross return was obtained by cashew based intercropping system with turmeric (` 1.385 lakhs/ha) and sole cropping of turmeric in open area (` 3.142 lakhs/ha) followed by garlic intercropping (` 0.887 lakhs/ha) and in sole cropping (` 2.404 lakhs/ha). Highest net profit was obtained by cultivating turmeric (` 2.151 lakhs/ha) followed by garlic (` 1.832 lakhs/ha). The B: C ratio was the maximum for chilli (3.78) followed by fenugreek (3.47), garlic (3.20) and turmeric (2.17) compared to the minimum in coriander (0.73). The magnitude of B: C ratio was lower in mango ginger, pickling coleus and ginger because of higher expenses on the inputs as well as higher cost towards processing and prevailing lesser market price. Land equivalent ratio (LER) of all intercropping systems was greater than one, indicating higher yield advantages and efficient land use. LER was worked out based on yield performance of associated intercrop with main crop (cashew). Maximum LER was recorded in turmeric and chilli (2.10 each). CII values were noticed among cropping systems and higher CII was worked out for cashew + turmeric (1.31) and the lower CII value was worked out for cashew for both the seed spices viz., coriander and fenugreek (1.13 each).