Rahena Parvin Rannu
Soil & Water Management Section, Horticulture Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur 1701, Bangladesh
Razu Ahmed
Soil & Water Management Section, Horticulture Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur 1701, Bangladesh
Alamgir Siddiky
Soil & Water Management Section, Horticulture Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur 1701, Bangladesh
Abu Saleh Md. Yousuf Ali
Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur 1701, Bangladesh
Khandakar Faisal Ibn Murad
Irrigation & Water Management Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur 1701, Bangladesh
Pijush Kanti Sarkar
Irrigation & Water Management Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur 1701, Bangladesh
Irrigation, Mulch, Yield, Water Use, Strawberry
Gazipur and RARS, BARI, Rangpur
Crop-Soil-Water Management
Water management, Mulching, Strawberry
2.1. Experimental Site. (e experiment was carried out during two successive growth seasons of 2012-13 and 2013-14, at two locations: (1) Horticulture Research Centre (HRC), Joydebpur, Gazipur which is located at 34 m altitude, 23.98 N latitude, and 90.42 E longitude and (2) Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Burirhat, Rangpur which is at 11 m altitude, 25.82 N latitude, and 89.23 E longitude. Both locations are under Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI). Between these two locations, RARS, Burirhat, Rangpur location contains more coldness in winter than HRC, Joydebpur, Gazipur location due to geographical features. (e average temperature and annual rainfall are 25.8°C and 2036 mm, respectively, for Gazipur, whereas they are 24.9°C and 2192 mm for Rangpur. In Bangladesh, Rangpur is located in the north western part that is faced with prolonged dry season than the rest of the country. For this study, temperature and rainfall data for the entire crop growing season of both locations were recorded. 2.2. Treatments and Experimental Design. (e treatments were as follows: Factor A (main plot): M1 = black polythene and M2 = rice straw. Factor B (subplot): I1 = irrigation at 5 days interval after plant establishment (PE), I2 = irrigation at 10 days interval after PE, and I3 = irrigation at 15 days interval after PE. (e experiment was laid out in a split-plot design (SPD) with three replications. 2.3. Planting Materials and Cultural Practices. (e Strawberry line FA-007 was used as the test crop because BARI released varieties that were not available enough at that time. FA-007 was a promising line at that time under the supervision of relevant scientists which is released later as a variety (BARI Strawberry-03). (e texture of soil was loamy having a bulk density of 1.40 g/cc. (e water content at the wilting point (WP) and field capacity (FC) were 14% and 29%, respectively. Seedlings were transplanted in the first and last weeks of November in the two consecutive years at the age of 1 month of plant on raised bed. (e unit plot size and spacing were 2.5 m × 1.0 m and 50 cm × 50 cm, respectively. Each mulch had three rows (each row contained two lines of plants) 1 m apart from each other, and 1.5 m spacing was kept in between black polythene mulch and rice straw mulch to prevent the water from going to other plots and affecting them. (e initial soil characteristics were analyzed (Table 2) for both locations. Fertilizer was applied based on the soil test results and Fertilizer Recommendation Guide, Bangladesh, 2012, at the rate of 120, 40, 110, 25, 4, and 2 kg/ha of N, P, K, S, Zn, and B, respectively. (e entire amount of cow dung (5 t/ha), half MoP, and all of the other fertilizers except urea were applied as basal and were incorporated into the soil during final land preparation. (e urea was applied as top-dressing in three equal installments at 15, 30, and 45 DAT (days after transplanting), respectively. The rest half of MoP was applied at 45 DAT. Common irrigations (on an avg. 65 mm for Gazipur and 72 mm for Rangpur) were applied till plant establishment. Intercultural operations such as weeding and earthing up were done as and when necessary. For mulching, 13.5 kg straw mulch was used where the thickness of straw was 2 cm. Black polythene mulch with 25-micron thickness was used to cover the entire plot. Both mulches were installed manually on the entire bed. Black plastic mulch with small holes was stretched tightly on the soil surface after 40 days from transplanting for strawberry seedlings to grow up. (e crop was first harvested on the first week of February in both years.
International Journal of Agronomy Volume 2018, Article ID 2903706, 10 pages
Journal