M I U Mollah
Chief Scientific Officer
Training Division, BRRI, Gazipur 1701.
M S U Bhuiya
Professor
Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh.
A Khatun
Senior Scientific Officer
Rice Farming System Division, BRRI, Gazipur 1701.
S M A Hossain
Chief Scientific Officer
Training Division, BRRI, Gazipur 1701.
Bed planting, Rice, Wheat, Cropping system,Performances
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) experimental farm, Gazipur and farmers’ fields in Chuadanga
Farming System
Rice, Wheat, Mungbean
The experiment was conducted at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) experimental farm, Gazipur and at farmers’ fields in Chuadanga in Rabi season 2002-03 (November to March, wheat), Kharif-I season 2003 (March to June, mungbean) and Kharif-II season 2003 (June to November, rice). In both the locations, the experiment was repeated simultaneously in two separate fields. The soil of the experimental plots in BRRI farm was clay loam whereas in farmers’ fields it was silty loam. Four cropping patterns namely Wheat-Mungbean-Direct seeded rice (DSR), Wheat-Mungbean-Transplant rice (TPR), Wheat-Fallow-DSR and Wheat-Fallow-TPR under two planting methods, bed (raised bed) and conventional (flat) planting were evaluated. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block (RCB) design with three replications. For wheat, 70 cm wide raised beds (40 cm top and 30 cm furrow) were made manually following the conventional land preparation and height of beds was 15 cm. Beds prepared for wheat were used for mungbean and rice. The beds prepared for wheat kept intact and mungbean, DSR and TPR on bed were grown as zero tillage condition. Normal tillage practices were followed in conventional method for all the crops. Weed population and dry biomass of weed were recorded at the time of weeding from a sample area of 0.25 m 2 for all the crops. Grain yields and yield components of all the crops were collected at maturity. The productivities of different cropping systems were compared in terms of rice equivalent yield (REY). Cost of land preparation, bed preparation, labor wage, inputs and irrigation and price of the products and byproducts were recorded. Simple economic analysis such as total variable cost (TVC), gross return, gross margin and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) were done for different planting methods. The wheat variety Kanchan was used in both the locations. The seed rates were 120 kg ha-1 and 90 kg ha-1 for conventional and bed planting, respectively. Seeds were treated with Viatvax- 200 at the rate of three gram kg-1 seed. For beds, seeds were sown on 26 and 17 November in Gazipur and Chuadanga, respectively, in two rows bed-1 and for conventional method, row-to-row distance was 20 cm. Phosphorus, K, S and Zn were applied at the rates of 20, 35, 10 and 4 kg ha-1, respectively. The N rates were 100 and 80 kg ha-1 for conventional and bed planting, respectively. In the conventional treatment, the whole of P, K, S and Zn were applied at final land preparation while in bed planting, fertilizers were applied on the top of the beds before sowing and transplanting. For DSR, N was applied in four equal splits. One-forth of N fertilizer was applied as basal and the remaining splits were top dressed at 20, 40 and 60 days after sowing (DAS) for BRRI dhan39 and at 20, 45 and 70 DAS for other three varieties (BRRI, 2000). For TPR, urea was top dressed in three equal splits at 15, 30 and 45 days after transplanting (DAT) for BRRI dhan39 and at 15, 35 and 55 DAT for other varieties. For the treatments with bed planting, N fertilizer was top dressed on the top of beds (BRRI, 2000). Other recommended crop management practices were followed. In Gazipur, rice was harvested on 1-13 November and in Chuadanga it was harvested on 7-8 November.
Bangladesh Rice J. 19(2): 35-44, 2015
Journal