Nipa Adhikary*
Soil Science Discipline, Khulna University Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
Sonia Nasrin, Samsunnahar
Soil Science Discipline, Khulna University Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
Md. Hanif
Soil Science Discipline, Khulna University Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
Organic farming, Conventional farming, Soil properties, Growth, Red amaranth.
Sonatola soil series of Non-calcareous, Dark Grey Floodplain Soils and AEZ Old Brahmaputra Floodplain (AEZ-9)
Crop-Soil-Water Management
Organic farming, Amaranth
Geographically the experimental site is located at 24º 75' N latitude and 90º 50' E longitude at an elevation of 18 m above the sea level. The soil in the experimental field belongs to the Sonatola soil series of Non-calcareous, Dark Grey Floodplain Soils and AEZ Old Brahmaputra Floodplain (AEZ-9) during Rabi season from January to February 2008, which is more or less neutral in reaction. The experimental field was a medium high land with leveled topography and poor drainage condition (FAO and UNDP, 1988).
Red amaranth was used as test crop in this experiment. This crop has gained popularity among the farmers of Bangladesh for its high yield potential. The seeds were collected from BADC, Mymensingh. The land was ploughed several times to obtain a good tilth condition and then leveled, weeds, stubbles, and crop residues were removed. The land was then finally prepared six days before planting the seed.
The experiment was laid out in RCBD with six treatments and each of three replications. The total numbers of plots were 18. The size of a unit plot was 1.0 m x 1.0 m. Inter block and inter plot spacing were 0.50 m and 0.50 m respectively. The treatments were no fertilizer (control) (To), cowdung (T1), poultry manure (T2), synthetic fertilizer (T3), cowdung in combination with synthetic fertilizer (T4) and poultry manure in combination with synthetic fertilizer (T5). For organic farming cowdung and poultry manure were used whereas for the interactive roll between conventional and organic farming combinations (cowdung + synthetic fertilizers and poultry manure + synthetic fertilizers) were used. Cowdung and poultry manure were applied at the rate of 10 t ha-1 and 5 t ha-1 respectively (BARI, 1991). Urea, TSP and MP were used as the source of N, P, and K respectively in traditional farming. The dose of fertilizers and organic manures were applied in the experimental plots are given in Table 3. Well decomposed cow-dung and poultry manure were incorporated in the plots as per treatment at 4 days before sowing and after 2 days they were mixed thoroughly with the soil. All the fertilizers were applied during the final preparation of plot as Red amaranth is a short duration crop.
The seeds were sown at the rate of 3 seeds per hole by hand keeping uniform distance at the rate of 1kg/ha and then the seed were covered with soils. Row to row distance was 20 cm and plant to plant distance was 5 cm. Germination of the seeds started from 3rd day of sowing. On the 6 th to 8th all the seeds were germinated. One seedling was kept in each hole. Gap fillings, Weeding and Irrigation were done time to time. The experimental crop was harvested after 34 days of sowing on 27 February, 2008.
Collection and preparation of soil and plant samples: Initial soil sample was collected randomly from 10 different spots from a depth of 0-15 cm before manuring and fertilization. All samples were composited to make a single sample for analysis. After crop harvest, soil samples were collected again from each plot at 0-15 cm depth. After removing weeds and other unwanted things, the samples were air-dried, ground, sieved through a 2 mm sieve and kept for analysis. The plant samples were collected from each plot and were dried in an oven at 80°C for about 72 hours. Then they were ground to pas through a 20-mesh sieve in a grinding mill. The prepared samples were then put into polythene bags.
Statistical analysis: The analysis of variance was done following the computer package MSTAT. The mean differences were adjudged by DMRT (Gomez and Gomez, 1984) and ranking was indicated by letters.
Khulna University Studies Volume 11 (1&2) and 12(1&2): December 2013
Journal