Rice is the most important human food crop in the world. In Bangladesh rice is cultivated throughout the year as Aus, Aman and Boro. Among them boro rice is generally cultivated in November to March. More than half of the total production (55.5%) is obtained in this season. Generally, farmers use more than the recommended number of seedlings during transplanting. The number of seedlings plays a vital role in the growth, development and yield of rice. The aim of this experiment was to determine the number of seedling(s) during transplanting for boro rice varieties for higher growth and yield. This investigation was carried out at the research field of BINA sub-station under Khagrachari sadar upazila in Bangladesh during December 2017 to May 2018. The experiment tested three seedling numbers; S1 (Single), S2 (double), S3 (triple) and four varieties V1 (BRRI dhan-28), V2 (Binadhan-14), V3 (Heera-1), V4 (Shakti-2) in a factorial RCB design with three replications. Results revealed that significantly highest plant height was obtained with treatment S1´V3 (110.30 cm) and S3´V4 (109.4 cm) while the maximum number of tillers/hill from S3´V1 (16.93) and S2´V1 (16.07). In terms of production, treatment combination S3´V4 gave the highest grain (10.40 t/ha), straw (10.40 t/ha) and biological yield (10.40 t/ha). Harvest index was the highest in treatment S1´V4 (59.48). From the above findings it was observed that single seedling performed better than two and three seedlings per hill in terms of getting optimum yield of boro rice varieties. Hence, the rice growing farmers should avoid the use of extra seedlings during transplanting to save labor, time and money.

Ponds are considered to be self-contained, land lock ecosystem which is often teeming with rich vegetation and diverse organismal life. The pond water contains different organic and inorganic components. The experiment was carried out in laboratory, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh through collection of pond water from Gouripur and Muktagacha under Mymensingh division for assessment of major ionic status and suitability parameters for irrigation and aquaculture usage in quantitative way. Around 30 samples were collected from different location. On the basis of HCO3 ion, all water samples except 3 samples were not suitable for irrigation because this anion exceeded the acceptable limit (1.5 meL-1). On the other hand, HCO3 ion was not treated as problematic in all samples except 2 samples for aquaculture usages. The concentrations of Ca, Mg, Na, K, PO4 and SO4 were far below the recommended limit. Considering aquaculture usage, Cl ion was considered as hazardous in all the pond water samples because this anion was above the legal limit (<0.003mgL-1). pH value of pond ranged from 7.02 to 7.87 indicating alkaline in nature and were not problematic for irrigation and aquaculture usage. Among the major ionic constituents, the remarkable significant correlations existed between Ca vs Mg, Ca vs K, Mg vs SO4, K vs Na, Na vs SO4. Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.6(2): 301-313, August 2019

Background: Bangladesh is one of the densely populated countries in the world. To meet up the increasing food demand there’s no alternative to increase the cropping intensity through high yielding and short duration crop varieties. Currently, cropping system of Bangladesh is mostly rice based which is also the staple food. Therefore, farmers which follow rice-rice based cropping patterns are gaining less profit day by day. Contrary, intensive rice culture is depleting soil properties gradually. Thus, to preserve soil health and increase profit pulse and oil seed based cropping patterns are crucial for sustaining a cropping pattern. This study was undertaken to find out a cropping pattern with higher yield and profit in the context of Magura district.Methods: Five cropping patterns, CP1 = Transplanted Aman rice (cv. Binadhan-7)- Mustard (cv. Binasarisha-9)- Boro rice (cv. Binadhan-14); CP2 = T.Aman (cv. Binadhan-16)-Mustard (cv. Binasarisha-10)- Boro (cv. Binadhan-14); CP3 = T.Aman (cv. Binadhan-17) -Mustard (cv. Binasarisha-10)- Boro (cv. Binadhan-14); CP4 = T.Aman (cv. Binadhan-17)- Lentil (cv. Binamasur-8)- Sesame (cv. Binatil-3) and CP5 (Control) - Aman (cv. Shorna) – Boro (cv. Heera) - fallow were assessed to identify the most suitable and profitable pattern as well as to enhance the cropping intensity by adding a pulse or oil seed crop between two rice crops. The investigation was conducted at farmer’s field of Magura during 2018-19. Block farming method was followed for experiment set up. Result: It was revealed that, maximum rice equivalent yield (REY) was obtained from CP1 (14.46 t/ha) followed by CP4 (13.52 t/ha), CP3 (13.35 t/ha), CP2 (13.09 t/ha) and CP5 (11.33 t/ha) during one year crop cycle. Highest gross margin (Tk. 1,90,189) and MBCR (1.83) was obtained from the cropping pattern CP4 and the lowest gross margin (Tk. 69,271) and MBCR (1.24) was found with the pattern CP5. Based on the above results it can be suggested that, Aman rice-Lentil-Sesame pattern i.e. CP4 may be a best choice for the farmers of Magura region for the maximum utilization of their land and gaining more profit compared to the other studied cropping patterns.

from International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) including some advanced lines from Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture in 2006. During Preliminary Yield Trial, the genotype LG-208 produced 18.62% and 29.47% higher seed yield than the check variety BARI Masur-5 at Ishurdi and Magura respectively. Through advanced yield trials, regional yield trials, on-station and on-farm trials from 2010-11 to 2015-16, it was found that exotic germplasm LG-208 showed better performance than check (BARI Masur-5). Genotype LG-208 had significantly highest seed setting and harvest index under 20% polyethylene glycol (PEG) induced drought and considered as the drought tolerant which showed similar performance with field trials in drought-prone areas (Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi). Based on the superior performance of exotic germplasm LG-208 line, BINA has decided with the National Seed Board (NSB) of Bangladesh to register this line as a high yielding drought tolerant lentil variety, named as Binamasur-10 in 2016. Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.6(2): 253-262, August 2019

Appropriate planting time of mustard (Brassica sp.) during winter determines the growth yield and quality of a particular cultivar. Since the shift of winter period over the last few years driven by climate change, a transformation in mustard cultivation is also observed. Thus, to study the extent of these variations we studied 6 mustard varieties (V1- Binasarisha-4, V2- Binasarisha-9, V3- Binasarisha-10, V4- BARI Sarisha-14, V5- BARI Sarisha-16 and V6- BARI Sarisha-17) under 3 different planting dates (D1-31st October, D2-10th November and D3-20th November) in the Magura district of Bangladesh to evaluate yield differences over sowing times. Field experimentation was set followed RCB (Randomized complete block) design. Data on growth and yield parameters were collected at various days after sowing. Outcomes noted that, most number of siliqua/plant was obtained with treatment combination D3 × V5 (190.33), siliqua length with D3 × V2 (7.95 cm), number of seeds per siliqua by D3 × V6 (36.30), thousand grain weight by D1 × V1 (3.90 g). Hence, correlation study suggested that, seed yield was positively related to number of siliqua/plant, siliqua length and number of seeds/siliqua. Though, BARI Sarisha-16 (V5) delivered top seed and stover yield in all sowing dates. But interaction effects depicted that planting on 10th (2.00 t/ha) and 20th November (1.99, 1.94 t/ha) gave similar seed yield like 31st October planting (2.31 t/ha); in addition, stover yield (6.70, 6.83 t/ha) also remained at peak with the later plantings (D2, D3). An increase in the tendency of life duration was noticed when sown on 20th November for most treatment combination. Overall, delayed sowing of mustard didn’t affect the yield and related attributes rather it accelerated to some attributes. Hence, rescheduling of optimum sowing time for mustard is now a time demanding concern with regard to weather change.