nutrient management practices for wheat-rice cropping system

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist Vol. 91 No. 3 (September 2008) 269

Nutrient Management Practices for Wheat-Rice Cropping System S.M.A. Jabbar et al.THE PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURAL SCIENTIST ISSN 0031-7454Vol. 91 No. 3, 269-277September 2008

Evaluation of Different Nutrient Management Practices for Wheat-RiceCropping System under Agroecological Zone 1 in BangladeshS. M. A. Jabbar1,2*, M. Mahamuda Begum2, P. C. Sta. Cruz2 and M. Harun-ur-Rashid1

1Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh2College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna 4031, Philippines*Author for correspondence; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

A study on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-rice (Oryza sativa L.) cropping system using six differentnutrient management practices was conducted during 2002–2004 in Panchagarh, under AgroecologicalZone 1 in Bangladesh for the development of cropping pattern-based fertilizer recommendations. Thesix different nutrient management treatments were as follows: soil test-based inorganic fertilizerdoses for moderate yield goal (MYG), soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yield goal (HYG),integrated nutrient management for HYG (INM), Agroecological Zone-based standard fertilizer recom-mendations given in Fertilizer Recommendation Guide ’97 (FRG ’97), local farmers’ practice (FP) andunfertilized control.

The combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizer could increase system productivity com-pared with the use of inorganic fertilizer alone. In general, soil test-based fertilizer doses performedbetter than fertilizer applied at standard doses without prior soil testing. Based on the 2-yr study, soiltest-based INM treatment produced the highest crop yields, improved yield-contributing characters,resulted in the highest gross margin and gave the highest marginal benefit cost ratio over the unfertil-ized control compared with the other nutrient management practices. Under such conditions, theapplication of farm yard manure in the form of cow dung in the INM treatment was found useful inincreasing crop yields. To increase soil fertility and sustainable crop productivity, the farmers inBangladesh should be encouraged to use farm yard manure such as cow dung along with INM treat-ment for wheat-rice cropping system.

Key Words: farm yard manure, inorganic fertilizers, integrated nutrient management, wheat-rice cropping system

Abbreviations: AEZ – Agroecological zone, FYM – farm yard manure, FP – farmers’ practice, FRG ’97 – fertilizer recom-mendation guide ’97, HI – harvest index, HYG – high yield goal, INM – integrated nutrient management, MBCR – marginalbenefit cost ratio, MYG – moderate yield goal, SOM – soil organic matter

INTRODUCTION

The economy of Bangladesh, one of the world’s mostdensely populated countries, depends on the agriculturalsector. More than 80% of the arable land in Bangladesh isused for food production. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-rice (Oryza sativa L.) cropping system is the principal ag-ricultural production system in southern and eastern Asia,covering an estimated area of 21.9 million ha in seven coun-tries, i.e., Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar,Nepal and Pakistan (Ladha et al. 2000; Mann and Garrity1994). Rice and wheat cover about 83% of the total landplanted to cereals (Ahmed and Meisner 1996). Food pro-duction in Bangladesh has increased from 10.97 milliontons in 1971 to 25.9 million tons in 2007 (Datta 2008) due to

the introduction of high-yielding rice and wheat varieties,the adoption of modern cultivation technologies, the in-creased use of chemical fertilizers, the expansion of irri-gated area and the increase in cropping intensity (Bhuiyanet al. 2002). Cropping intensity (the ratio of cropped area tocultivated area) in Bangladesh has reached about 179%(Saleque et al. 2004).

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Cen-ter (CIMMYT 1990 and CIMMYT 1992) reported that theyields of rice and wheat in the Indo-Gangetic Plains Regionof India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh had reached aplateau due to declining factor productivity (the ratio ofproduction output to inputs used in the production at spe-cific period of time) under increasing intensification. How-ever, increasing cropping intensity with cultivation of mod-

270 The Philippine Agricultural Scientist Vol. 91 No. 3 (September 2008)

Nutrient Management Practices for Wheat-Rice Cropping System S.M.A. Jabbar et al.

ern varieties increased the removal of nitrogen (N), phos-phorus (P), potassium (K), sulphur (S) and other plant nu-trients from the soil because of their greater biomass(Dobermann et al. 1996a and 1996b; Saleque et al. 2004).Nutrient removal has exceeded annual replacement, in spiteof adherence to the application of appropriate fertilizerdoses based on the national fertilizer recommendations(Saleque et al. 2004).

A crop production system with high yield target can-not be sustainable unless balanced nutrient inputs are sup-plied to the soil, considering the rate of nutrient removalby crops (Bhuiyan et al. 1991). Moreover, in the crop pro-duction system of Bangladesh agriculture, inorganic fertil-izers are not usually applied in balanced proportion by thefarmers (BARC 1997) who are mainly concerned with ap-plying high rates of inorganic N fertilizer and tend to ne-glect the use of organic fertilizers (Saleque et al. 2004).Most farmers are reluctant to use organic fertilizer due tosome constraints: 1) organic fertilizers are bulky and re-quire more time and labor cost for collection, storage, trans-port and application; 2) nutrient contents in organic fertil-izers are lesser compared with those of inorganic fertiliz-ers; 3) slow nutrient releasing nature of organic fertilizers;and 4) the beneficial effects of organic fertilizers are notimmediately observed. Hence, such imbalanced nutrientmanagement practices may hamper the productivity of soilsin Bangladesh that generally contain low levels of organicmatter (Saleque et al. 2004).

Soil fertility is one of the major factors in the manage-ment of soils to improve their sustainability. Integratednutrient management (INM) is the maintenance or adjust-ment of soil fertility and plant nutrient supply at an opti-mum level to sustain the desired crop productivity wherebyboth organic and inorganic fertilizers are used simulta-neously in the field. This approach could be a practicaloption to maintain sustainable soil productivity in a tropi-cal country such as Bangladesh.

Soil organic matter (SOM), which is related to soil qual-ity, is known to be an important fertility parameter. Wadeand Ladha (1995) and Willet (1995) confirmed that the addi-tion of organic matter in the soil is considered essential forthe improvement of the soil cation exchange and the buff-ering capacities for nutrient retention and better soil struc-ture. The average organic matter content of soils inBangladesh is about 1.0% (Saleque et al. 2004). Under tropi-cal climates, increasing organic matter to a high level is noteasy. In such conditions, farm yard manure (FYM) wasfound to be useful in improving soil fertility and productiv-ity, increasing the efficiency of applied fertilizers and even-tually increasing crop yields.

In Bangladesh, cow dung is one of the importantsources of organic manure. The total cattle population inBangladesh is about 24.4 million and most of the cattle

farms are in rural and periurban areas (Azizunnesa et al.2008). Many of the farmers in Bangladesh are small to mar-ginal and own 0.5–1.5 acres of land (Rashid et al. 2002),mostly fragmented landholdings. They can produce therequired amount of cow dung (5 ton ha-1) from their owncattle or buy it from the surrounding farms. The applica-tion of cow dung in rice and wheat fields may help to re-duce the use of chemical fertilizers and overall productioncost.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council is up-dating its Fertilizer Recommendation Guide ’97 (FRG ’97)with soil test-based fertilizer recommendations for the tar-get yield of a crop. Hence, the present study was con-ducted to evaluate the different fertilizer management prac-tices along with farmers’ practice for the wheat-rice crop-ping system to establish a cropping pattern-based systemfor recommended rates of fertilizer application inBangladesh.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Site CharacterizationTwo field experiments were conducted at the Boda MultiLocation Testing (MLT) site in Panchagarh, Bangladeshduring the dry (Rabi season) and wet (Kahrif-II season)seasons of 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 in medium highlandunder irrigated condition. The same experimental plots wereused in both years. The experimental site belongs toAgroecological Zone 1 in Bangladesh, known as Old Hi-malayan Piedmont Plain.

Soil AnalysisA composite topsoil sample (0–0.15 m depth) from eightsubsamples was collected at the beginning of the experi-ment from each replication and was analyzed for soil pH(1:1 soil-water mixture), percentage of SOM (Nelson andSommers 1982), total soil N (Bremner 1996), available P(Olsen et al. 1954), exchangeable K (NH4O-Ac extraction;Helmke and Sparks 1996), available S (wet chemical meth-ods), available zinc (Zn) (0.05N HCl method) and availableboron (B) (Azomethine-H method). The experimental sitehas a clay loam soil texture.

Experimental Design, Crop Establishment and Manage-mentThe experiment was laid out in a randomized complete blockdesign with 6 dispersed replications. The size of the experi-mental unit plot was 40 m2 (5 m x 8 m). The field was plowed,cross-plowed about 15 cm and harrowed to incorporateweed and previous crop residues into the soil during landpreparation. Each plot was separated by bunds to preventmovement of water with nutrients from one treatment to



another. Drainage canals were constructed after the finalharrowing and leveling. For the wheat-rice cropping sys-tem, the high-yielding wheat variety ‘Shatabdi’, releasedby the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, and thehigh-yielding rice variety ‘BRRI Dhan-33’, released by theBangladesh Rice Research Institute, were used in the study.Wheat seeds were sown in rows following 25 cm to rowdistance and covered by soil with little pressure by hand.The rice variety was established by transplanting 25-d-oldseedlings at a planting distance of 20 cm x 20 cm. Theexperimental plots were irrigated at different crop growthstages for three and six times for wheat and rice crops,respectively. Insects, diseases and weeds were controlledbased on recommended practices in the area. Yield compo-nents (plant height, spike number, tiller number, spikelength, panicle length, number of effective grains per spike,number of filled grains per panicle and 1000 grain weight)were determined from a 1-m2 sampling area at harvest. Grainyield and straw yield were determined at harvest from a 5-m2 designated sampling area in the center of each subplot.Harvest index (HI) was calculated by dividing the totalgrain yield by the combined grain and straw yields.

Fertilizer TreatmentsThe six different fertilizer management practices used astreatments in the experiment are described as follows:MYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses

for moderate yield goal (MYG); (3–4 t ha-1

for wheat; 4–5 t ha-1 for rice)

HYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yield goal (HYG); (4–5 t ha-1 for wheat; 5–6 t ha-1 for rice)

INM = Integrated nutrient management for HYGFRG ’97 = Agroecological Zone-based standard

fertilizer recommendations given in Fertilizer Recommendation Guide’97 by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council

FP = Local farmers’ practice (based on interviews of 30 local farmers)

Control = Unfertilized control.

The doses for different fertilizers under each treatmentare specified in Table 1. The sources for N, P, K, S, Zn andB were urea (46% N), triple superphosphate (20% P), muri-ate of potash (50% K), gypsum (18.6% S), zinc sulphate(35% Zn) and boric acid (17% B), respectively. Well-de-composed cow dung (0.5% N, 0.2% P and 0.5% K) from thefarmers’ own farm was used as organic fertilizer for the firstcrop (wheat) and was incorporated at 1 wk before wheatseeds were sown. One-third of N and full doses of P, K, S,Zn and B were applied during the final land preparation.The remaining N was top-dressed in two equal splits atmid-tillering and at panicle initiation stages in both crops.

Cost and Return AnalysisCost and return analysis for both crops was done to evalu-ate the economic potential of the different fertilizer man-agement practices. The variable cost was computed basedon the cost of fertilizers applied in both crops including the

Table 1. Fertilizer treatments and rate of nutrient applications for the wheat-rice cropping system.

Wheat RiceTreatment

Nutrient (kg ha-1) Cow dung* Nutrient (kg ha-1)(t ha-1)

N P K S Zn B N P K S Zn

MYG 84 14 53 20 1 0.6 0 67 4 37 8 1HYG 120 20 75 28 1.4 0.8 0 90 5 47 10 1.4I N M 105 15 60 28 1.4 0.8 5.0 90 5 47 10 1.4FRG ’97 90 20 45 15 1.5 0.5 0 75 10 35 4 0F P 86 24 40 13 0 0 0 80 7 30 4 0Control 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Treatment legend:MYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for moderate yield goal (MYG)HYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yield goal (HYG) which is 1.4 times higher than the fertilizer doses in MYGI N M = Integrated nutrient management for HYGFRG ’97 = Agroecological Zone-based standard fertilizer recommendations given in Fertilizer Recommendation Guide’97F P = Local farmers’ practiceControl = Unfertilized control*Well-decomposed cow dung (fresh basis) at 5 t ha-1 = 25, 10 and 25 kg of N, P and K, respectively. At an assumed mineralization rateof 60% during the cropping period, this provided 15, 5 and 15 kg of N, P and K, respectively.



price of cow dung applied in the first crop. The cost offertilizers in Taka were as follows: urea - 6.00; triple-superphosphate - 15.00; muriate of potash - 10.00; gypsum -5.00; zinc sulphate - 40.00 Taka per kg and cow dung - 250Taka per ton (1 U.S Dollar is equivalent to 68.00 Bangladeshcurrency Taka in 2008). The average grain and straw yieldsof wheat and rice were used in computing the gross returnfor both cropping years. The cost of grain and straw forwheat and rice were computed as follows: wheat grain -5.00, wheat straw - 1.25, rice grain - 7.50 and rice straw - 1.50Taka per kg. Gross margin was calculated from the differ-ence between gross return and variable costs. Marginalbenefit cost ratio was computed based on gross return andvariable cost over the unfertilized control.

Data AnalysisData were statistically analyzed using procedures de-scribed by Gomez and Gomez (1984). Analysis of varianceand the least significant difference for comparison of treat-ment means at 5% level of significance were computed byusing IRRISTAT Version 5.0.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Site Soil CharacterizationBased on the results of pre-experimental soil analysis, theexperimental fields were characterized by acidic soil reac-tion, low soil organic matter and soil N, very low availableP, deficient exchangeable K, medium available S, Zn andvery low B (Table 2), and were frequently classified ashaving extremely poor soil (Wade et al. 1999). Thus, thechance of producing the differential effects due to fertilizermanagement practices as variables in the study was antici-pated.

Wheat CropYield-contributing characters of wheat. The average val-ues of yield-contributing characters of wheat, as influencedby the different fertilizer management practices during thedry (winter) seasons of 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, areshown in Table 3. The yield-contributing characters variedsignificantly with different fertilizer management practices.INM produced the tallest plant, which was significantly

Table 2. Values for selected soil characteristics of com-posite topsoil samples (0–0.2 m) from the six dispersedreplications.

Soil Characteristics Measured CriticalValue Soil Level*

pH 5.1 6–6.5% Soil organic matter 1.67 2–3% N (Kjeldahl) 0.09 0.1–0.15Available P (mg kg-1) 3.3 <5Exchangeable K (cmolc kg-1) 0.11 <0.2Available S (mg kg-1) 8.8 <5Available Zn (mg kg-1) 0.78 <0.6Available B (mg kg-1) 0.16 <0.5

*Source: Rice Knowledge Bank, International Rice Research In-stitute (IRRI), Philippines (2008)

Table 3. Yield contributing characters of wheat at harvest in wheat-rice cropping systemunder different fertilizer management practices during the dry (winter) seasons of 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 at Boda MLT site, Panchagar, Bangladesh (average of 2 yr).

Plant No. of Spike No. of 1000Treatment Height Spikes Length Effective Grain

(cm) per m2 (cm) Grains per Spike Weight (g)

MYG 88.5 204 8.9 41.4 43.0HYG 89.7 213 9.27 41.3 44.5I N M 97.7 221 10.3 46.1 45.6FRG ’97 88.8 202 9.28 41.4 42.8F P 91.3 199 9.25 39.3 41.4Control 65.9 151 6.45 26.6 35.2

LSD (P>0.05) 6.1 15.6 0.45 2.83 1.2

Treatment legend:MYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for moderate yield goal (MYG)HYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yield goal (HYG) which is 1.4 times higher thanthe fertilizer doses in MYGI N M= Integrated nutrient management for HYGFRG ’97 = Agroecological Zone-based standard fertilizer recommendations given in Fertilizer Recom-mendation Guide’97F P = Local farmers’ practiceControl = Unfertilized control



higher compared with those from the other treatments, whilethe shortest plant was observed in the unfertilized control.The FP produced the second highest plant height whichwas followed by HYG. The number of spikes per m2 wassignificantly higher in INM followed by HYG and the low-est was observed in the unfertilized control. Significantlyhigher spike length was noted in INM, while the lowestwas observed in the unfertilized control. The FRG ’97, HYGand FP treatments did not differ in spike length. Similarly,INM had the highest number of effective grains per spike,while the lowest was observed in the unfertilized control.The MYG , FRG ’97 and HYG treatments did not differ inthe number of effective grains per spike. Significantly high-est 1000-grain weight was observed in the INM treatment,which was followed by HYG, while the significantly lowestvalue was observed in the unfertilized control. The MYG,FRG ’97 and FP did not differ in terms of this parameter.

Grain yield, straw yield and harvest index of wheat.The average grain yield, straw yield and HI of wheat asaffected by the different fertilizer management practicesduring the dry (winter) seasons of 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 are shown in Table 4. Among the fertilizer manage-ment practices, INM produced the highest wheat grain yield,i.e., a yield gain of 1.94 t ha-1, which represents a 56% yieldincrease over the unfertilized control. The second highest

Table 4. Grain yield, straw yield and harvest index ofwheat at harvest in wheat-rice cropping system underdifferent fertilizer management practices during the dry(winter) seasons of 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 at BodaMLT site, Panchagar, Bangladesh (average of 2 yr).

Treatment Grain Yield Gain Straw HarvestYield over Yield Index

(t ha-1) Unfertilized (t ha-1) (%)Control(t ha-1)

MYG 2.87 1.38 4.09 41.2HYG 2.94 1.45 4.32 40.5I N M 3.43 1.94 4.45 43.5FRG ’97 2.68 1.19 3.73 41.8F P 2.45 0.96 3.35 42.2Control 1.49 - 2.47 37.6LSD (P>0.05) 0.24 0.49 1.2

Treatment legend:MYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for moderateyield goal (MYG)HYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yieldgoal (HYG) which is 1.4 times higher than the fertilizer doses inMYGINM = Integrated nutrient management for HYGFRG ’97 = Agroecological Zone-based standard fertilizer recom-mendations given in Fertilizer Recommendation Guide ’97F P = Local farmers’ practiceControl = Unfertilized control

Fig. 1.Fig. 1.Fig. 1.Fig. 1.Fig. 1. Relationship between grain yield (t ha-1) underfarmers’ practice (FP) and integrated nutrientmanagement (INM) treatments in wheat-ricecropping system.

grain yield was obtained from the soil test-based inorganicfertilizer for HYG with a yield gain of 1.45 t ha-1, whichrepresents a 49% increase over the unfertilized control,and this was followed by MYG and FRG ’97. The FPachieved significantly higher grain yield compared withthe unfertilized control.

The INM fertilizer treatment consistently produced thehighest wheat yield compared with other fertilizer manage-ment treatments and the unfertilized control. This confirmsthe earlier findings of Russel (1973), Cosico (1978), Solido(1991) and Rajput (1995) wherein the combined use of inor-ganic fertilizer and animal manure (such as cow dung) re-sulted in higher crop yield than when organic fertilizer wasapplied alone. The better grain yield responses of the soiltest-based inorganic fertilizer doses for HYG and MYGcompared with Agroecological zone-based standard fertil-izer doses without soil testing and FP were consistent withthe findings of Saika and Pathak (1999) who reported thatsoil test-based fertilizer doses generally produce betteryields than the standard fertilizer application doses with-out prior soil testing.

Wheat yields under FP and INM fertilizer managementtreatments were evaluated by using regression analysis inorder to determine the relative increases in grain yields forboth treatments. Wheat yields in FP plots were plottedagainst INM plots, with a unity (1:1) line established (Fig.1). The relationship between wheat yields under FP andINM fertilizer treatments was highly significant (R2 =0.92**), and revealed that wheat yields due to INM treat-ment were above the unity line, suggesting that higheryields were obtained in INM plots with reference to FPplots.

Similar trend was observed in wheat straw yields thatvaried from 2.47–4.45 t ha-1 in different fertilizer manage-ment practices (Table 4). INM produced the highest straw



yield but did not differ significantly with HYG and MYG ,while the lowest was obtained in the unfertilized control.

HI varied among the fertilizer management practices(Table 4). The highest HI was obtained in the INM treat-ment. The HI in FP, FRG ’97 and MYG did not differ butwere significantly higher than the HI in HYG. Consistently,the lowest HI was observed in the unfertilized control.

Rice CropYield-contributing characters of rice. The average valuesof yield-contributing characters of transplanted rice inwheat-rice cropping system during the wet seasons of 2003and 2004 at the experimental site are presented in Table 5.All the yield-contributing characters of transplanted riceexamined were significantly influenced by the different fer-tilizer management practices. The highest plant height wasobserved in INM, and the lowest in the unfertilized con-trol. Plant height obtained in FP, HYG , FRG ’97 and MYGdid not differ but was significantly lower than that ob-served in INM and higher than that observed in the unfer-tilized control. Higher number of effective tillers per hillwas observed in INM followed by FP, and the lowest in theunfertilized control. Consistently, the longest panicle andhighest number of filled grains per panicle were observedin INM and significantly lowest values for the same param-eters were obtained in the unfertilized control. Insignifi-cant different values for panicle length and number of filledgrains per panicle were obtained in HYG, MYG and FRG ’97,although these were significantly lower than those obtainedin INM and higher than those obtained in FP and the un-fertilized control. Significantly higher 1000-grain weight was

obtained in INM followed by HYG but lower in the unfertil-ized control.

Grain yield, straw yield and harvest index of rice.The average grain yield, straw yield and HI of transplantedrice for 2 yr during the wet seasons of 2003 and 2004 arepresented in Table 6. Rice grain yield significantly differedacross the different fertilizer management practices. Appli-cation of the INM fertilizer treatment resulted in the high-est grain yield, with a yield gain of 2.02 t ha-1, which isabout 50.4% yield increase over the unfertilized control.The second highest grain yield was obtained from the soiltest-based fertilizer doses for HYG, with a yield gain of 1.37t ha-1, which is about 41.5% yield increase over the unfer-tilized control. Grain yields as a result of soil test-basedfertilizer doses for MYG, FRG ’97 and FP did not differ butwere significantly higher compared with the unfertilizedcontrol.

Generally, the INM fertilizer treatment resulted in thehighest rice grain yield compared with the other fertilizertreatments through improvement of the yield-contributingcharacters, namely: number of effective tillers per hill, paniclelength, number of filled grains per panicle and 1000-grainweight. Similar with grain yield trends in wheat, the secondhighest grain yield was obtained from the soil test-basedinorganic fertilizer doses for HYG, which was followed bysoil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for MYG, whereasthe Agroecological zone-based standard fertilizer doseswithout soil testing and FP resulted in lower grain yields.The results were consistent with the findings of Saika andPathak (1999) who reported that soil test-based fertilizerdoses resulted in better yield compared with the applica-

Table 5. Yield-contributing characters of transplanted rice at harvest in wheat-ricecropping system under different fertilizer management practices during the wetseasons of 2003 and 2004 at Boda MLT site, Panchagar, Bangladesh (average of 2 yr).

Treatment Plant No. of Panicle No. of 1000 GrainHeight Effective Tillers Length Filled Grains Weight(cm) per Hill (cm) per Panicle (g)

MYG 93.2 11.2 23.0 110.7 23.1HYG 94.3 11.7 23.3 109.9 23.8I N M 100.2 12.9 25.3 125.5 24.5FRG ’97 93.7 11.3 23.1 104.5 23.2F P 94.4 11.8 22.2 103.2 23.0Control 85.9 9.3 20.6 68.4 20.7LSD (P>0.05) 2.16 0.46 0.51 6.2 0.58

Treatment legend:MYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for moderate yield goal (MYG)HYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yield goal (HYG) which is 1.4 timeshigher than the fertilizer doses in MYGI N M = Integrated nutrient management for HYGFRG ’97 = Agroecological Zone-based standard fertilizer recommendations given in FertilizerRecommendation Guide’97FP = Local farmers’ practiceControl = Unfertilized control



ized control, which was statistically similar with that of HYG.Based on the results, INM fertilizer treatment favored thegreater partitioning of biomass to grains, which is prob-ably due to the improvement of nutrient availability duringthe reproductive and grain filling stage in both crops.

Cost and Return Analysis for Wheat-Rice CroppingSystemEconomic return is an important indicator of the productiv-ity of any cropping system. Cost and return analysis ofwheat-rice cropping system as influenced by different fer-tilizer management practices is presented in Table 7. Re-sults showed that the gross return was highest in INMfertilizer treatment, followed by soil test-based inorganicfertilizer doses for HYG and MYG. Higher gross returns ofthese treatments were due to their higher productivity inboth crops and cropping years. Comparatively lower grossreturns were obtained from the Agroecological Zone-basedstandard fertilizer doses without prior soil testing and FP.The gross return obtained from the unfertilized control wasthe lowest among all the treatments.

The highest variable cost obtained in INM was due tohigher quantities of inorganic fertilizer used and the addi-tional cost for cow dung. Although the farmers used cowdung from their own farm, the price of cow dung was con-sidered as a variable cost item in INM. Ishaque et al. (1998)reported that if cow dung can be supplied from the farmers’own cattle, it will not be an additional financial burden;likewise, its use for crop production will be agronomically,economically and environmentally profitable.

The highest gross margin, which is attributed to thehighest gross return, was obtained from INM followed byMYG, while the lowest was obtained in the unfertilized con-trol. The highest marginal benefit cost ratio over the unfer-tilized control was observed in INM due to its higher pro-ductivity. Likewise, the soil test-based fertilizer doses forMYG had better marginal benefit cost ratio over the unfer-tilized control due to its less variable cost. The cost andreturn analysis of wheat-rice cropping system as influencedby different fertilizer management practices revealed thatthe soil test-based INM and the soil test-based fertilizerdoses for MYG are economically profitable for wheat-ricecropping system.

CONCLUSION

The application of cow dung in combination with inorganicfertilizer in wheat-rice cropping system could increase sys-tem productivity. The soil test-based fertilizer doses per-formed better than fertilizer applied at standard doses with-out prior soil testing. Highest grain yield was obtained fromsoil test-based INM fertilizer treatments in both wheat andrice crops. The highest yield in INM was attributed to bet-

Table 6. Grain yield, straw yield and harvest index oftransplanted rice at harvest in wheat-rice cropping sys-tem under different fertilizer management practicesduring the wet seasons of 2003 and 2004 at Boda MLTsite, Panchagar, Bangladesh (average of 2 yr).

Treatment Grain Yield Straw HarvestYield Gain over Yield Index

(t ha-1) Unfertilized (t ha-1) (%)Control(t ha-1)

MYG 3.27 1.28 4.19 43.8HYG 3.36 1.37 4.51 42.7I N M 4.01 2.02 4.99 44.6FRG ’97 3.19 1.2 4.05 44.1F P 3.05 1.06 3.95 43.6Control 1.99 - 2.83 41.3LSD (P>0.05) 0.35 0.58 1.8

Treatment legend:MYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for moderateyield goal (MYG)HYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yieldgoal (HYG) which is 1.4 times higher than the fertilizer doses inMYGI N M = Integrated nutrient management for HYGFRG ’97 = Agroecological Zone-based standard fertilizer recom-mendations given in Fertilizer Recommendation Guide ’97FP = Local farmers’ practiceControl = Unfertilized control

tion of fertilizer at standard rates without prior soil testing.Grain yield increments of 34–50% due to fertilizer manage-ment variables substantiate the earlier findings of Uddin etal. (2001) who reported a 47–68% increment in rice grainyield due to different fertilizer applications.

Similarly with wheat, rice grain yields in FP plots wereplotted against INM plots, with a unity (1:1) line estab-lished (Fig. 1). The relationship between rice grain yieldsunder FP and INM fertilizer treatments was highly signifi-cant (R2 = 0.87**). Apparently, all of the x-y intercepts forthe two fertilizer treatments were found above the unityline, which suggest that higher grain yields were obtainedunder INM fertilizer treatment with reference to FP fertilizertreatment.

The rice straw yield was also found to be significantlyinfluenced by the different fertilizer management treatments(Table 6). The highest straw yield was obtained in the INMtreatment but did not differ with HYG, while the loweststraw yield was obtained in the unfertilized control. Nosignificant differences in straw yield were observed amongMYG, FRG ’97 and FP, but the yields were significantlyhigher than that of the unfertilized control.

Significant differences in HI were observed among thedifferent fertilizer treatments (Table 6). The highest HI wasfound in INM, but did not differ with those of FRG ’97,MYG and FP. The lowest HI was obtained in the unfertil-



ter yield-contributing characters of the crops comparedwith the other fertilizer management practices. Under suchfertilizer treatments, farm yard manure such as cow dungwas found to be useful in increasing crop yields.

Treatments with inorganic fertilizer alone, except MYG,were not sufficient to produce economically profitable yieldin wheat and rice crops. The INM fertilizer treatment re-sulted in the highest average gross margin and marginalbenefit cost ratio compared with the unfertilized control.Thus, the INM fertilizer treatment is the most economicallyprofitable.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommended INM practice would be application of105 kg N, 15 kg P, 60 kg K, 28 kg S, 1.4 kg Zn and 0.8 kg Bha-1 with 5 tons cow dung per ha for wheat and 90 kg N, 5kg P, 47 kg K, 10 kg S and 1.4 kg Zn per ha for rice inPanchagarh under Agroecological Zone 1 in Bangladesh.The farmers in Bangladesh practicing soil test-based fertil-izer application should be encouraged to use farm yardmanure along with the integrated nutrient managementapproach for wheat-rice cropping system. Moreover, it isimportant to evaluate the effect of the integrated use offarm yard manure and inorganic fertilizers on the long-termsustainability of wheat-rice cropping system, i.e., towardthe development of effective techniques to improvesustainability and nutrient use efficiency in such croppingsystem.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research was part of the project “Integrated Soil Fertil-ity and Fertilizer Management Project (SFFP)”, which wassupported by the Danish International DevelopmentAgency (DANIDA) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Re-search Institute (BARI).

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Table 7. Cost and return analysis of wheat-rice cropping system as influenced by different fertilizer managementpractices (average of 2 yr).

Treatment Gross Variable Gross Marginal BenefitReturn Cost Margin Cost Ratio (over

(Tk. per ha) (Tk. per ha) (Tk. per ha) Unfertilized Control)

MYG 50273 6644 43628 3.10HYG 52065 9131 42934 2.45I N M 60273 9558 50714 3.20FRG ’97 48063 7154 40909 2.57F P 45238 6394 38844 2.43Control 29708 0 29708 -

Treatment legend:MYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for moderate yield goal (MYG)HYG = Soil test-based inorganic fertilizer doses for high yield goal (HYG) which is 1.4 times higher than the fertilizer doses in MYGINM = Integrated nutrient management for HYGFRG ’97 = Agroecological Zone-based standard fertilizer recommendations given in Fertilizer Recommendation Guide ’97F P = Local farmers’ practiceControl = Unfertilized controlVariable cost = Computed from fertilizer cost onlyPrice (Taka per kg): urea - 6.00; triple super phosphate - 15.00; muriate of potash - 10.00; gypsum - 5.00; zinc sulphate - 40.00; cowdung (Taka per ton) - 250.00Gross return = Compared from average grain and straw yields of wheat and rice cropsPrice (Taka per kg): wheat grain - 5.00; wheat straw - 1.25; rice grain - 7.50; rice straw - 1.501 USD = 68.00 Taka (Bangladesh currency, exchange rate in 2008).



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nutrient management practices for wheat-rice cropping system

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