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Economics of Conservation Agriculture Practices Imposed in Wheat-maize-rice Cropping System in Bangladesh

M. Ataur Rahman
Principal Scientific Officer (PSO), Regional Wheat Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur-1701, Bangladesh

Mst. Esmat Ara Begum
Senior Scientific Officer, Agricultural Economics Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur-1701, Bangladesh,

T. P Tiwar
System Agronomist, CIMMYT-Bangladesh, Gulsan-2, House 10/B, Road 53, Dhaka 1212

Mohammad Ismail Hossain
Professor, Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Conservation agriculture (CA) is considered as a suitable crop management technique to offer higher crop productivity and economic benefits to farmers while safeguarding environment. To investigate these issues, an experiment was conducted under irrigated conditions using four treatments such as conventional agriculture (T1), conservation agriculture (CA) (T2), bed planting (T3) and CA plus bed planting (T4), imposed on component crops within a wheat-maize-rice cropping system during November 2010 to December 2015 at BARI research station, Gazipur, Bangladesh. The CA practices were based on retaining rice and wheat straw of 25 cm height and reduced tillage of single pass of power tiller operated tiller (PTOS) (in case of T2) and single pass of power tiller operated bed planter (in case of T4). ANOVA for adjusted 4 years pooled mean revealed no significant treatment effects for yield and economic analysis parameters (P≥0.05) for rice except BCR (P≥0.05) but the effects were significant for wheat, maize and wheat-maize-rice system for all economic parameters. Wheat yield across tillage treatments over four years ranged from 3,870 kg/ha in conventional to 5,182 kg/ha in CA. But maize, rice and W-M-R system ranged, respectively, from 5,810 kg/ha under conventional, 4,568 kg/ha under Bed, and 14,906 kg/ha under conventional practice to 7,175 kg/ha under CA, 5,032 kg/ha and 16,354 kg/ha under bed planting plus CA. Compared to conventional tillage the average maize and system yield across three CA practices were greater by16% and 11.7%, respectively. Maize production cost ranged from Tk. 47,966/ha with the bed planting plus CA to Tk. 69,816/ha for conventional practices. Net returns and BCR of maize, however, ranged from Tk. 50,668/ha and 1.34 under FP to Tk. 101,932/ha under CA and 1.73 under bed planting plus CA, respectively. Likewise, total cost of production across treatments and years in rice ranged from Tk. 48,800/ha in three CA practices to Tk. 62,900/ha in conventional tillage while net return ranged from Tk. 18571/ha under FP to Tk. 35,550/ha in bed planting plus CA. It is concluded that while CA based tillage options may not have significant yield advantage over conventional tillage in maize and rice, they have significant advantages in terms of reduced production cost and labour use, and increased net returns. Considering the present climate change scenario and labour shortage during peak cropping season, policy should be focused on popularizing conservation practices as these improve grain productivity and save cost which yielded higher BCR thus farmers can get higher income by shifting their land from conventional agriculture to conservation practices.

Keywords: Conservation agriculture, Wheat-maize-rice system, Tillage, Economic analysis.

Location: BARI research station, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-11-2010

End Date: 00-12-2015

Program Area: Farming System

Commodity: Cropping System

Objectives:

The present study is confined the economic benefits of CA technique imposed in wheat-maize-rice cropping system comparing with conventional agriculture

Methodology:

Soil and Climate A fixed plot field study was conducted for five consecutive years from November 2010 to December 2015 at the Research Farm of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur, Bangladesh. The research station belongs to AEZ 28 which is characterized by flood free highland with fine texture. The soil was deficient in organic matter, total N and most of the plant nutrients and the sub-surface soil (15-30 cm) was more deficient in different nutrients as compare to surface soil (0-15cm). The initial soil pH of the experiment site was 6.5 at the surface and 6.7 at the sub-surface. The climate of the region is sub-tropical with mean annual rainfall (1960-2015) of 169.77 mm, 88% occurring during the rainy season (June-September). The wheat growing period (November to March) is fairly dry and the crop expose to higher temperature at reproductive to grain filling stages. Experimental design and treatments The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications of four treatments imposed in plots measuring 10m × 6m in size. The treatments were: T1 : Conventional practice/farmer’s practice (FP) Conventional practice including broadcasting wheat seeds on well tilled soil followed by line sown maize then puddle transplanted (PTP) aman rice, all with full tillage and without any crop residue retention. T2 : Conservation agricultural practice (CA) The CA consist of wheat sown by single pass of Power tiller operated seeder (PTOS) with anchored/standing rice straw (25 cm in height) followed by no-till maize in plot with anchored/standing wheat straw of about 25 cm height and then PTP aman rice. T3 : Bed Planting (Bed) The treatment comprise of wheat sowing by power tiller operated bed planter (PTOBP) followed by no till maize then PTP aman rice without any crop residue retention. T4 : Bed + CA The treatment is similar to T3, but included rice and wheat straw/residue retention as in T2. Crop variety and intercultural operations Three crops varieties such as BARI Gom-26, BARI Hybrid Maize 7 and BINA Dhan 7 were introduced as the first, second and third crop respectively, in the system. The recommended rates of fertilizers for wheat (N120P30K50 S20B1), maize (N200P50K80 S40Zn5B2) and rice (N80P30K50S20) were applied manually for all the crops. Seeds of wheat and maize and seedlings of rice were used as planting materials. Wheat seeds were broadcasted at the rate of 140 kg/ha in case of FP (T1) whereas wheat seeds were sown using PTOS and Bed planter in case of T2, T3 and T4 and the seed rates were 120, 100 and 100 kg/ha, respectively. Maize seed rate was 30 kg/ha for all the treatments and rice seedlings were transplanted maintaining row to row spacing of 20 cm and plant to plant spacing of 15 cm. The wheat crop was irrigated uniformly to bring the soil moisture near to field capacity (29% by weight) during CRI, booting and grain filling stages. To ensure germination and stand establishment two to three time irrigations were applied at the early growth stages of maize and no irrigations were required after the onset of monsoonal precipitation. The rice crop was rain-fed for all the years. Wheat was sown between 20 and 25th November for all the years. After wheat harvest maize seeds were sown within 10-15th March (Kharif-1 season), which matured within 110- 115 days in mid-July. Then rice was transplanted at the end of July as the 3rd component crop in the system. Upon maturity, wheat and rice were harvested about 25 cm above the ground as per prescribed treatments in cases of T2 and T4 to ensure the retention of residue about 30% wheat and rice in the plots. Similarly, the maize crop was cut above the ground and allowing the base and its root system to retain in the soil. Thinning and all other intercultural operations of maize were done duly following the recommended practice with the exception of earthen up. Weeding and all intercultural operations were done duly those were same for all plots. Crop harvest and yield estimation At maturity samples were harvested from the central area of 6m x 4m in each plot then the samples were threshed, grains were sun dried and then moisture content of grain samples were measured to converted grain yields (kg/ ha) at 12% moisture content for wheat and 14% for maize and rice. Total biomass (grain + straw was weighed with a spring balance. Straw yields were reported on air dry weight basis. Harvest Index (HI) was calculated as grain yield divided by total biomass yield on a per hectare basis.

Source of Information: Bangladesh J. Agric. Econs. XXXVIII, 1&2 (2016-2017) 85-101

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Achievement/Findings:

The agriculture in Bangladesh primarily focuses on finding a sustainably suitable agricultural technology that meets the demands of smallholder farmers while maintaining or improving soil fertility. Though there is no universal strategy to end challenges to food security in the country but it was evident from the study that combining and simultaneously applying low input conservation agriculture practices coupled with residue retention helps in optimizing resource use efficiency, reduce production cost and increase in net return and thus BCR. Higher yield, total return and net return and thus BCRs of the component crops within an intensive wheat-maize-rice cropping system was found under the conservation agricultural practices. Results from experiments demonstrate that conservation agriculture along with bed planter and crops residual retention enhances productivity of component crops in wheat-maize-rice system. The results demonstrate the potential of conservation agriculture system for increasing grain yield and reduce cost of production. That said conservation agriculture is recommended for reducing cost of production and increase the profit which will in turn reduce the pressure of survival of farming communities.

Knowledge Management: Journal