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Productivity and Profitability of Jackfruit-eggplant Agroforestry System in the Terrace Ecosystem of Bangladesh

Atiqur Rahman
Department of Agroforestry and Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Md. Abiar Rahman*
Department of Agroforestry and Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Md. Giashuddin Miah
Department of Agroforestry and Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Md. Azizul Hoque
Department of Horticulture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Md. Mezanur Rahman
Department of Agroforestry and Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Multistoried agroforestry systems as a form of jackfruit-eggplant based is increasingly recognized as a promising option to counteract the catastrophic effects of climate change through providing multifaceted benefits. Unfortunately, farmers of Bangladesh did not manage their jackfruit orchard in a scientific manner. Therefore, the present study was aimed to assess the productivity and profitability of jackfruit-eggplant based agroforestry system after modification from a traditional jackfruit orchard during the period of July 2012 to December 2013. Five treatments covering four orientations of jackfruit tree and an open field was used as a control treatment. To observe the growth and economic performance of the system; soil moisture and temperature, DBH, number of fruits per tree, fruit length, fruit width, fruit weight, total yield, BCR, and LER were calculated following different established methods. The yield of jackfruit dramatically increased by 81% in the agroforestry system compared to sole cropping, while eggplant shows inverse trend. Soil moisture was high in agroforestry system than that of control plot while soil temperature shows reverse pattern. Indeed, agroforestry system had some negative effects on growth performance of understorey crops. Despite, net return and BCR from jackfruit-based agroforestry system were 5.58 lakh and 4.56, which was 66 and 45%, respectively higher than sole cropping systems. The LER of jackfruit-eggplant based agroforestry system was 2.17. Considering the main findings, we can elucidate that jackfruit orchards can be transformed to agroforestry system for maximizing production, generating income and conserving environment.

Keywords: Climate change, Multistoried agroforestry, Soil moisture, Temperature, Yield, Benefit-cost ratio

Location: Shibpur Upazila under Narsingdi district

Start Date: 00-07-2012

End Date: 00-12-2012

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Jackfruit, Eggplant, Agroforestry

Objectives:

Considering the above facts and to explore a suitable fruit tree-vegetable combination, on-farm research was designed to appraise the performance of upper-story jackfruit and lower-story eggplant plant. Furthermore, microclimatic modification and economic return from the newly developed jackfruit-based agroforestry was also evaluated to compare the profitability of the traditional system.

Methodology:

Study location An On-Farm study was conducted during the period from July 2012 to December 2012 at Shibpur Upazila under Narsingdi district (23º 29´ North latitude and 90º10´ East longitude), which is an ideal location of central terrace ecosystem of Bangladesh. The climate of the area is mild both in the summer and the winter. The maximum and the minimum mean temperatures during winter vary from 19º to 23.7ºC and in summer from 26º to 29ºC. The rainfall is generally heavy during the monsoon (July and August) and the mean annual relative humidity is about 74%. Experimental design and treatment An established jackfruit orchard was transformed to agroforestry for experimentation. Almost similar ages of jackfruit trees (10-13 years) were selected for imposing treatments. Nonetheless, jackfruit trees were kept as upper-story crop and widely cultivated Singnath eggplant variety was grown as a lower-story crop. The experiment was conducted in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Each jackfruit tree was considered as a unit plot for a single replication. There were five treatments: open (non-agroforestry traditional farming), AF-S (agroforestry – south orientation), AF-N (agroforestry – north orientation), AF-E (agroforestry – east orientation) and AF-W (agroforestry – west orientation). Field preparation and management practices For eggplant, land was prepared well by disking followed by harrowing and laddering until a good tilth was obtained. Land was fertilized by N, P, K, B and cowdung at the rate of 115, 75, 78, 11 and 5000 kg ha-1, correspondingly. Intercultural operations were done as and when necessary till end of the experiment. For controlling pest and diseases, Malathion 57 EC and Dithene M 45 were used at the rate of 2 ml lit-1 and 2 g lit-1, respectively. Poison bite and sex pheromone were also used to reduce the infestation of insects. No additional input was applied for jackfruit trees. Data collection and analysis To know the growth and yield performance of jackfruit, diameter at breast height (DBH), fruit length, fruit width and fruit weight were measured as sole and agroforestry jackfruit trees. Five representative plants of eggplant were selected from each orientation for data collection. Samples were collected at 50, 70, 90, 110, 130 and 150 DAT. Fruit length, diameter and weight were measured at each harvesting and finally yield was calculated by summing up the weight of all fruits during the experimental period. Soil temperature and moisture were calculated periodically at every month interval to know the soil environment modification in agroforestry practice. The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) is the ratio of gross return with total cost of production. It was calculated by using the following formula (Islam et al., 2004):

Benefit-cost ratio (BCR)= Gross return/Total cost of production

Land equivalent ratio (LER) is derived from its indication of relative land requirements for intercrops versus monocultures. It helps to find the relative performance of a component of a crop combination compared to sole stands of that species (Mead and Willey, 1980).

Source of Information: Turkish Journal of Agriculture - Food Science and Technology, 6(2): 124-129, 2018

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

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Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The higher economic return from jackfruit based agroforestry system might be due to several reasons for instance i) the presence of trees in crop fields has a positive effect on crop productivity, due to combinations of depositing mulch and nutrients, shade cover for exposed soils, reduced erosion, trapping airborne topsoil, and attracting animals and birds who deposit manure and urine, ii) surpluses resources of jackfruit tree e.g. firewood, construction timber and non-timber can be sold to diversify household income, iii) natural resources generated by jackfruit trees and restored habitats sustainably increase consumption by rural households and reduce expenditures on farm inputs such as fertilizers, fodder for livestock’s and household needs. All of these factors augmented farm income compare to traditional land use systems. The outcomes that we found are corroborate by Hasan et al. (2008) in jackfruit-pineapple agroforestry production system, Hossain et al. (2015) at fruit-tomato based agroforestry systems.

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