Agricultural Research Management Information System

Home
Research Summary
Search
About Us
- ARMIS
- Brochure
Contact Us
Report
User Request
Data Input
Help
- Operation Manual
  - PDF
  - Video
- Program Area & Commodity
We have reached 37600 number of research entries at this moment.

- Logout

Research Detail

Home
Research
Detail

Formulation and Dissemination of Improved Cropping System Packages for the High BARInd Tract

M. A. Salam
Department of Agricultural Extension, Rajshahi Region, Neodapara, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

A. M. Musa
People’s Resource-Oriented Voluntary Association (PROVA), B/251, Kazihata, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

C. Johansen
15 Westgate Court, Leeming, WA 6149, Australia

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Prospects for increasing irrigation in the High Barind Tract (HBT) of Bangladesh are limited and thus improvement of rainfed cropping systems is necessary to increase agricultural production and improve the well-being of rural households of the region. Rainfed rainy-season rice (T. Aman) is the major crop of the region and chickpea has proven to be the most viable post rice rainfed crop. Efforts supported by recent projects funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK have improved various components of chickpea cultivation, building on earlier efforts of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). However, despite the development of improved production packages, chickpea remains a risky crop. Attempts to demonstrate improved packages of chickpea cultivation have usually fallen short of expectations due mainly to rainfall-related constraints—excess rainfall exacerbating pest and disease incidence and low rainfall inducing drought stress. The complex nature of the constraints affecting transplanted Aman rice–chickpea rotations has necessitated a collaborative approach in attempting to solve the problems. Effective collaboration among researchers, extension personnel, and farmers has been developed to evaluate and demonstrate improved technology in farmers’ fields. Effective means of ensuring early harvest of rice, to permit sowing of chickpea and other rabi crops before surface soil moisture dries out, have been developed. This includes the use of short-duration varieties and direct seeding of rice, which allow earlier sowing of rabi crops without sacrificing rice yields. Other technologies for reducing the risk of chickpea cultivation such as seed priming, alleviating nutrient deficiencies, and management of pests and diseases have been successfully evaluated by farmers, but further farmer training and widespread demonstration are required if significant adoption leading to a favorable impact on rural livelihoods is to occur.

Keywords: Rainfed rabi crop, HBT, Rainfed rice cropping, Agricultural productivity, High Barind Track

Location: In Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-00-2002

End Date: 00-00-2006

Program Area: Farming System

Commodity: Cropping System

Objectives:

To improve rainfed rabi cropping in the HBT, to best integrate with rainfed rice cropping, to increase agricultural productivity and production in the region.

Methodology:

Concerted efforts to improve the cropping system in the HBT began in the late 1970s when the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) first placed scientists in the region. These scientists later became part of the On-Farm Research Division (OFRD) of BARI. It was shown that rabi crops could be sown after the harvest of rainfed rice, if the rapid drying of surface soil after the harvest of rice could be managed (Islam et al 1994). This involved careful land selection, to ensure sufficient soil moisture at sowing time, minimum tillage prior to sowing to minimize evaporative loss from the seedbed, and effective burying of seed immediately after sowing. If the seeds could germinate and seedlings establish before the surface soil dried out, the roots could then penetrate into deeper soil layers where water was present to support crop growth (Ali et al 2005). The researchers also noted that the declining water status through the rabi season required the use of shorter-duration varieties than those normally adapted to the floodplain soils, so that grain maturity could occur before the soil moisture was exhausted and the air temperatures rose in March. Rabi crops that could be successfully cultivated after T. aman rice in the HBT included chickpea, linseed, and barley. Most of the research to improve cropping systems in the HBT has been conducted in an “on-farm research and development” (OFR&D) mode. This comprised the following activities, all carried out in farmers’ fields: * Problem diagnosis, including farmer surveys and diagnostic trials. * On-farm trials (OFTs), whereby several factors are experimentally compared. A randomized block experimental design can be used with dispersed replication in different fields. * On-farm evaluations (OFEs), which are farmer-implemented comparisons of different factors or of an improved package with a traditional package. Farmer training and guidance is provided primarily by researchers but extension personnel are also involved. The evaluations are conducted in operational scale plots with test plots side-by-side, replicated in different farmers’ fields across a target region, and can be statistically analyzed as a paired “t” test or randomized block design (if >2 treatments). * On-farm demonstrations of optimum agronomic packages, after successful evaluation against the prevailing practice. These are implemented by farmers in operational-scale plots and replicated many times across a target region, with training and guidance given by extension personnel. The plots are displayed to other farmers through signboards and the conduct of farmer walks and field days. * Measurement of adoption and impact of introduced technologies.

Source of Information: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), 2008. ISBN 978-971-22-0229-2

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Although progress has been made in being able to alleviate some of the major constraints to chickpea in the harsh environment of the HBT, the crop is still prone to high risk beyond the control of farmers. Further training is required if farmers are to reliably manage the major biotic constraints of Helicoverpa pod borer and, even if it occurs only occasionally, BGM. However, the persistent overriding constraint to chickpea is moisture limitation. Irrigation is not an answer for chickpea as this crop is very susceptible to even temporary flooding. The key is in the establishment of seedlings strong enough to develop an effective tap-root system that will access abundant supplies of stored soil moisture through the growing season (Ali et al 2005). Although seed priming assists in this regard, it is suggested that a more effective soil tillage and seed placement system is required to adequately overcome the soil moisture limitation. Earlier sowing increases the probability of higher surface soil moisture, and thus earlier harvest of rainy-season rice is a means of reducing moisture stress to chickpea. The projects under discussion have demonstrated two viable means of achieving earlier harvest of rice, without a yield loss to rice—the use of short-duration varieties and DSR. Although there are various constraints to the adoption of these options, farmers generally appear more willing to adopt short-duration varieties than DSR. Earlier harvest of rainy-season rice is beneficial not only to chickpea but also to any other rainfed or irrigated crop that can be grown in the HBT. The DFID-funded Project R8269 has effectively addressed the limitations to chickpea caused by acid soil conditions—Mo deficiency and low nitrogen fixation. However, the key to improving soil fertility in the HBT, a prerequisite for improved and sustainable crop production, is substantially increasing soil organic matter levels from their current meager levels. This is only likely to be achieved by the inclusion of a vigorously growing green manure crop in the rotation. Sesbania spp. have proved effective in this regard in the HBT environment, as demonstrated long ago by OFRD researchers (Islam et al 1994) but adoption of this vital technology has been negligible. Constraints to the adoption of green manuring need further study and increased promotional efforts are needed to improve soil organic matter status in the HBT. The actual and potential cropping systems of the HBT, with or without irrigation, involve many complexities. Diverse technologies are required to tackle the range of constraints present. This in itself requires the interaction of researchers across a wide range of disciplines. However, to convert possible technological solutions into forms manageable by resource-poor farmers requires close and continuing interaction among researchers, extension specialists, social workers, and the target farming families. The projects discussed here present an example of how this could be achieved, even if there is still a long way to go in using technology for poverty alleviation in the HBT.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings