Conservation agriculture (CA) based tillage technology permits direct seeding through the moderate level of crop residue. CIMMYT introduced this technology in the farmers’ field of Bangladesh for wheat crop in collaboration with Wheat Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI). Farmers accept CA based tillage technologies considering the advantages of higher yields, reduced cost of tillage operation, and minimum turn around time between the crops. Up land crops are more suitable under these tillage technologies. Weed management in rice cultivation is not yet in a good shape. Most of the tillage implements are operated by imported Chinese two wheel tractor (power tiller). There are few four wheel tractor CA implement using in research farm. Local manufacturers are being fabricated these cost effective small minimum tillage seed drill, raised bed planter, zero till drill, and strip till drills efficiently in different districts of Bangladesh. Farmers accept CA technologies in their field, especially raised bed planting and minimum tillage technology. There are about 425 numbers of raised bed planters and 865 minimum tillage seed drill in the country. Area coverage under bed planting and minimum tillage system are 5764 ha and 21850 ha, respectively. There are 20125 numbers of farmers involved in raised bed farming. There is a big prospect accelerating the CA based tillage technology in the farmers’ field as irrigation water availability becoming limited or more costly. Mind set up is the big issue for adopting CA tillage technology. Training and multi disciplinary approaches can push forward these tillage technologies ahead.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 40(2): 235-248 June 2015

A field experiment was conducted at the central research farm of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur for two consecutive years to verify the yield response of wheat variety Prodip to different doses and split applications of N fertilizer to determine appropriate N dose and application method for increasing NUE and grain yield of wheat. The treatments comprised of 12 combinations of three doses of nitrogen (80, 100, and 120 kg/ha) from urea, which were assigned in the main plots and four methods of N splitting viz., application of all N as basal; 2/3 rd basal plus 1/3 rd as top dress at crown root initiation (CR1) stage; 1 / 2 basal plus 1 / 2 as top dress at CR1 stage; and 1/3 rd basal with 1/3 rd as top dress at CR1 plus 1/3 rd as top dress at 1st node stage which were tested in the sub plots. Higher yield was achieved from N rate of 120 kgiha applied as three equal splits of one-third as basal during final land preparation, one-third as top dressing during CR1 and the rest one-third top dressing at first node stage. The yield advantage of wheat due to N treatments was attributed to higher thousand grain weight and spikes/m 2 . Nitrogen content in wheat grain and straw was not affected significantly by different N treatment and their combinations, whereas plant N uptake was significantly influenced by N rate and N splitting and also due to the interaction of N rate and N splitting. Total N uptake was maximum under N rate of 120 kg/ha applied as three equal splits as 1/3 rd basal with 1/3 rd as top dress at CR1 plus 1/3 rd as top dress at 1 st node stage. Split applications of sub-optimal dose of N (80 kg/ha) resulted in negative gain in apparent NUE, but split applications, especially three split applications (1/3 rd basal, 1/3 rd at CR1, and 1/3 rd at 1 st node stage) of higher dose of N (100 and 120 kg/ha) resulted in positive gain in apparent NUE.

Eight modern wheat varieties (viz., Sourav, Gourab, Shatabdi, Sufi, Bijoy, Prodip, BARI Gom-25 and BARI Gom-26) were evaluated to find out the suitable variety for optimum and late sown condition, to find out heat tolerant and heat sensitive variety and to find out the optimum sowing time for a specific variety. The experiment was conducted in the research farm of Wheat Research Center (25°38´ N, 88°41´ E and 38.20 m above sea level.), Bangladesh, under eight sowing times (viz., 8 Nov., 15 Nov., 22 Nov., 29 Nov., 6 Dec., 13 Dec., 20 Dec. and 27 Dec.). Results showed that wheat sown in November 22 to December 20 was significantly better compared to November 08, 15 and December 27, from the studied aspects of yield and yield components. Considering overall sowing performance of all genotypes Shatabdi is the best, followed by BARI Gom-26 (2nd), Sourav (3rd), Prodip (4th), Bijoy (5th), Gourab (6th), Sufi (7th) and BARI Gom-25 (least). In extremely heat stress (November 08 and December 27) condition Prodip was found to be heat sensitive genotype (yield reduction 41.18 and 28.92%), followed by BARI Gom-26 (yield reduction 41.15 and 22.73%). Both in too early and very late heat stress conditions, genotypes Sourav and BARI Gom-25 were found to be heat tolerant. In very early (November 08), variety Sourav (yield reduction 20.47%) is recommended, followed by BARI Gom-25 (yield reduction 27.91%) and in very late (December 27), Sufi is the best (yield reduction 8.60%), followed by Bijoy (yield reduction 11.05%).

Lentil is an important pulse crop widely grown in Bangladesh. It ranks first among the pulses in terms of area and consumers' preference. BARI has developed many improved lentil varieties and disseminated to the farmers fields. The up-to-date information regarding adoption and financial profitability of this crop are unknown to the researchers and policymakers. Therefore, the study was conducted in Jhenaidah and Jessore districts to determine the adoption status and profitability of BARI lentil production and to examine the factors affecting the yield of BARI lentil during 2010-2011. Cobb-Douglas production function was used. The study revealed that 98% of the total lentil cultivated areas were occupied by BARI lentil varieties in the study areas. The average level of adoption of BARI Masur-3, BARI Masur-4, BARI Masur-5 and BARI Masur-6 were 49%, 47%, 1% and 1%, respectively at farm level. The cultivation of BARI lentil was profitable to the farmers since the per hectare total cost, gross return and net return of BARI lentil cultivation were Tk 52,734, Tk 80,572 and Tk 27,838, respectively. Functional analysis revealed that seed, urea, mechanical power cost and pesticides had positive effect on the yield of lentil production. Unavailability of latest BARI lentil seed, lack of technical know-how, lack of training, and diseases (root rot and stemphylium blight) were the main constraints to BARI lentil cultivation at farm level. BARI Masur-3 and BARI Masur-4 were the highly adopted varieties. The lentil production was profitable to the farmers in the study areas.

An experiment was conducted with three wheat varieties of varying seed sizes at five seed rates in medium and high management at Wheat Research Centre, Dinajpur during 2004-05 Rabi season to determine the appropriate seed rates for the varieties under different management practices. On an average, high management increased grain yield by 18.4%, but the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) was higher in medium management. Higher grain yield was obtained from varieties Shatabdi (medium sized seed) and Prodip (large sized seed) compared to Sufi (small sized seed) in high management, whereas in medium management, all the varieties produced similar grain yield. Considering yield performance and BCR analysis, the seed rates of Sufi and Shatabdi might be 100 and 120 kg/ha, respectively, for both the managements. Seed rates of Prodip might be 120 and 140 kg/ha for medium and high management, respectively.