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Permanent Bed Systems in the Rice–wheat Cropping Pattern in Bangladesh and Pakistan

C.A. Meisner
International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) / Cornell University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

A.S.M.H.M. Talukder
Wheat Research Centre, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, Dinajpur and Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Ilias Hossain
Wheat Research Centre, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, Dinajpur and Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Israil Hossain
Wheat Research Centre, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, Dinajpur and Rajshahi, Bangladesh

M. Gill
On-Farm Water Management Institute, Lahore, Pakistan

H.M. Rehman
On-Farm Water Management Institute, Lahore, Pakistan

E. Baksh
On-Farm Water Management Institute, Lahore, Pakistan

S. Justice
PO Box 5186, Kathmandu, Nepal

K. Sayre
Intensive Agroecosystem Program, CIMMYT, El Batan, Texcoco, Edo. de Mexico, Mexico

E. Haque
CIMMYT, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

With the growing use of bed-sown wheat in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia, the use of permanent raised beds (PRB) within the rice–wheat system has become a researchable question for growers and scientists alike. Permanent bed use in the rice–wheat system in Bangladesh and Pakistan is limited to a few hectares for demonstration and on-station or on-farm research. However, initial findings indicate potentially sustainable increases in both productivity and profitability when the use of residue mulching on permanent beds is included. There are still major hurdles to overcome before the practice can become widespread, including: • selection of rice germplasm that performs well under aerobic conditions such as PRB • perfection of machinery design and manufacture that can deliver seed and fertiliser precisely, reliably and affordably using the 2-wheel tractors plentiful in Bangladesh or 4-wheel tractors in Pakistan • involvement of all stakeholders, ie growers, agronomists, machinery manufacturers, agricultural engineers and equipment operators, to further extend and expand the use of PRB in Bangladesh while continuing to monitor and collect data on how its use can be maintained within the Bangladesh and Pakistan contexts. When some of these major constraints can be overcome through participatory research with growers, agriculture manufacturers, scientists and machinery operators/service providers, the potential of this system in productivity, sustainability and profitability can continue to be developed

Keywords: Permanent bed systems, Rice–wheat, Cropping pattern, Bangladesh, Pakistan

Location: Bangladesh and Pakistan

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Farming System

Commodity: Cropping System, Rice, Wheat

Objectives:

This paper will illustrate the trials and errors made in the research and implementation of permanent raised beds in Bangladesh and, briefly, in Pakistan in the hope that it might assist others to continue the work in South Asia and elsewhere in the future.

Methodology:

Permanent raised bed systems in Bangladesh Current status of mechanisation in Bangladesh The introduction of 2-wheel tractors in Bangladesh was a critical prerequisite for the development of PRB systems. These tractors number over 200,000 and are well distributed over the country . In China, from where 2-wheel Dongfang or Saifang tractors are imported to Bangladesh, growers use accessories in a rice–wheat system that involves minimum tillage with a one-pass, power operated tiller/seeder (POTS) attached to the 2-wheel tractor after removing the 18-tine tiller. CIMMYT, with multiple donors’ assistance, tried to import as well as locally manufacture these accessories but had little success in expansion or purchase of these implements from 1996 until 2003. Participatory approaches involved biannual meetings of agricultural engineers, agricultural machinery manufacturers, agronomists, growers and 2-wheel tractor operators. Such approaches were used for more than 8 years in Bangladesh, starting in 1996, by CIMMYT Bangladesh to empower production of these accessories locally. Despite CIMMYT’s best efforts, very few manufacturers were able to produce the accessories. However, during the last 2 years, over 40 imported POTS from China have been sold through an intensive participatory program that involves training operators (using materials including videos, booklets etc developed in Bangla) and loaning implements to growers and service providers at a slightly subsidised introductory price. The main features of the permanent bed system Concurrent with the work on the POTS, the idea of bed-sown wheat emerged, with a prototype bed planter being developed in CIMMYT Mexico using a toolbar approach attached to the 2-wheel tractor. After 3 years of intensive and participatory research and development similar to the method used with the POTS, a bed-sowing machine that can be attached to the 2-wheel tractor and can deliver seed and fertiliser reliably in a permanent or even non-permanent bed has not yet been perfected. Currently, beds can be formed and reshaped with no problem. The bed size is usually 60–70 cm from furrow to furrow, with two or three rows on top of the bed for wheat and two rows for transplanted or direct seeded rice. Interestingly, many growers in South Asia prefer to transplant on top of the beds to allow for early ground cover to compete with weeds. Direct seeding of rice requires greater management for weed control in some situations. Machinery to sow on top of permanent beds has only just emerged in the region for both 4-wheel and 2-wheel tractors. In Bangladesh beds can currently be formed using two basic accessories attached to the Chinese hand tractor: either a toolbar accessory with shovels and shaper in pre-tilled soil, or the POTS coupled with a square or roller/cone shaper. A planter/fertiliser hopper can be used as well. Demonstrations in growers’ fields with both these accessories showed variable machinery operation, requiring a depth control device/wheel to ensure proper seed depth placement. Also, the machinery is new, and operator training and experience should increase success over time. For permanent beds only the toolbar bed-former can be effectively used since the POTS bed-former makes two beds at a time, forcing the hand tractor wheels to travel on a pre-existing bed during a second crop season. Experimental results on agronomic and economic performance of PRB in Bangladesh In general, wheat sown on beds saves 30% irrigation water and increases nutrient-use efficiency (probably nitrogen), consistently increasing yields 10–18% over conventional tilled wheat on the flat. Evidence for increases in wheat yields under permanent beds includes greater biomass, longer spikes, greater number of grains per spike and plumper grains, although numbers of plants or spikes per square metre is not increased over conventional tillage. Rice sown on beds generally yielded up to a 25% increase over conventional puddled tillage on the fl at, but the results were not consistent over years or locations, as was the case with wheat and varied crops (data not shown). Many experiments conducted in South Asia have indicated that when rice and wheat are grown on permanent raised beds, wheat yields generally always increase but rice yields decline. In Bangladesh this trend has not been observed. Part of the reason may be that the experimental design in Bangladesh is always a split plot where there is a continuous bed and furrow. Secondly, the rice is grown aerobically as most of the experiments are conducted by wheat scientists. Thus, the fields are irrigated in the same way as with wheat, providing adequate moisture but never flooded unless by monsoon rains which naturally flood the fields.

Source of Information: Evaluation and performance of permanent raised bed cropping systems in Asia, Australia and Mexico edited by C.H. Roth, R.A. Fischer and C.A. Meisner ACIAR Proceedings No. 121 (printed version published in 2005)

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The challenges of doing research and implementing permanent bed systems in Bangladesh, and to some extent in Pakistan, involve: • perfecting machinery design and manufacture that can deliver seed and fertiliser precisely, reliably and affordably using the 2-wheel tractors plentiful in Bangladesh • involving all stakeholders, ie growers, agronomists, agricultural manufacturers, agricultural engineers and equipment operators, to further extend and expand the use of PRB in Bangladesh while continuing to monitor and collect data on how its use can be maintained within the Bangladesh and Pakistan contexts • selecting rice germplasm under aerobic PRB that performs well • upscaling the concept to growers where permanent raised beds fi t their soil and cropping systems and offer advantages in productivity as well as economic benefits. The authors believe that continuing the emphasis in Bangladesh on upscaling of the POTS (for minimum tillage), emphasising mechanisation including bed-forming/seeding equipment, empowering growers to work with this new machinery, and demonstrating PRB with the newly designed equipment is important. The future success of PRB can only be assured if the growers fi nd it suitable, and its economic performance and sustainability adequate, for a rice–wheat cropping system. For Pakistan, equipment needs to be designed, manufactured and sold for sowing wheat on beds in heavy straw residue. The potential for rice–wheat system yields is greater in Pakistan compared to Bangladesh because residue mulching is possible due to the lack of any economic benefit for the rice residue (most of it is currently burned).

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings