S. K. Biswas
Senior Scientific Officer
IWM Division, BARI, Gazipur 1701.
A.R. Akanda
Chief Scientific Officer
IWM Division, BARI, Gazipur 1701.
Wastewater, Biological quality, Hygienic problem, Indian Spinach
Crop-Soil-Water Management
A field experiment on Indian spinach was conducted at the farmer's field in Terokhada village, which was at the outskirt of Rajshahi City Corporation, during 2013 - 2014. The soil was silty clay loam having a bulk density of 1.44 gm/cc and field capacity of 29.57%. The experiment was designed in a randomized complete block with five treatments and three replications to identify effect of wastewater on the yield and quality of Indian spinach, an intensively cultivated vegetable in sub-urban area of Rajshahi. The treatments were as follows:
T1= Irrigation by freshwater with 100% of recommended fertilizer dose (RFD)
T2= Irrigation by wastewater with 25% of RFD
T3 =Irrigation by wastewater with 50% of RFD
T4= Irrigation by wastewater with 75% of RFD
T5= Irrigation by wastewater with 100% of RFD
The standard dose of fertilizers were calculated with the help of Fertilizer Recommendation Guide (FRG, BARC 2012) considering soil nutrient status as 84, 8, 37, and 7 kg/ha for N, P, K, and S, respectively. The entire doses of these fertilizers, except nitrogen, were applied and incorporated into soil at the time of final land preparation. Nitrogen was applied in three equal splits: one-third each at final land preparation, and at 25 and 45 DAP as top dressed. Seeds of Indian spinach were planted on 18 March 2014 with spacing of 30 cm x 15 cm in a elementary plot of 3 m x 3 m. Each wastewater irrigated elementary plots was separated by a 0.5 m buffer while fresh water irrigated plots by 1.5 m buffer to avoid any microbiological contamination by wastewater. Soil samples were taken from ground water treated (T1) and wastewater (T5) irrigated plots (about 1 kg each) at a depth of 15 cm with three repetitions in order to characterize the soil before planting and after harvesting of crop. After the crop harvest on 8 May 2014, the yield of the crops was determined by weighing the consumable parts and collecting samples for analysis. Ten plants were selected randomly from each plot to record the data such as plant height, number of stem per hill, number of leaves/plant, stem girth, leaf area and yield. Finally, microbial test was carried out on fresh and wastewater irrigated samples for pathogenic and indicator microorganism counting (total coliform, fecal coliform, fecal streptococci, Salmonella sp. and sulfite-reductor Clostridium). Later, plant samples were oven-dried at 650C for 72 hour until a constant weight was obtained, and dry weight was determined. The dried samples were ground and stored into sealed polyethylene bags for subsequent chemical analysis. Analysis of variance was done using MSTAT-C package to test the statistical significance of the effects of irrigation and fertilizer on Indian spinach.
Annual Research Report, IWM Division, BARI, 2013-14
Report/Proceedings