Enhancing Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) Production through relay cropping in transplant aman rice in medium low lands of Bangladesh

Abstract

The study was conducted to develop an economically viable production package including improved varieties and different management practices for lentil relay cropping for farmers of Bangladesh. Among seven experiments, five experiments were carried out at the Pulses Research Centre (PRC), BARI, Ishurdi, Pabna; one experiment was performed at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (! CARDA), Aleppo, Syria and one demonstration trial each at three locations of Pabna, Natore and Kushtia districts. Among the IO lentil genotypes studied, X95S-136, X95S-167(4) and BARI Masur-4 performed better in yield, yield contributing characters and growth-related characters, over the local cultivars and rest of the genotypes. Among different seed rates used (30, 40, 50 and 60 kg/ha), lentil genotypes produced higher yield with a seed rate of 50 kg/ha. Among the four levels of rice straw height cuts (10 cm, 20 cm, 30 cm and 40 cm), all the selected lentil genotypes performed well with 20 and 30 cm rice straw cut height. Out of nine different fertilizer combinations, lentil growth and grain yield were high with fertilizer level 30-60-30 kg/ha of N- P205-K20 and produced the highest grain yield (1885 kg/ha) over control (1435 kg/ha). Soil characteristics, e.g., soil pH showed a decreasing trend, but organic matter, total nitrogen; available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, available sulphur and zinc exhibited an increasing trend due to inclusion of lentil and different fertilizer application under lentil relay cropping in the rice field. From the combined experiment, it appeared that lentil genotypes X95S-136 and X95S-167(4) under 30 cm rice straw height cut with seed rate of 50 kg/ha and fertilizer level 30-60-30 kg/ha of N-P205-K20 had given better yield performance under relay cropping in transplant aman rice. Lentil genotypes, X95S-136, X95S-167(4) and BARI Masur-4 were found to be deep rooted with dense root mass which provided better adaption over the other genotypes under no-till cultivation. In the farmers field, lentil genotypes X95S-136, X95S-167(4) and BARI Masur-4 with complete production package gave a yield range of 1552 kg/ha tol432 kg/ha and higher economic net return of TK. 67752/ha were produced by X95S-136. Hence, by inclusion of lentil in the transplanted aman rice field as relay crop in the medium low lands has been recommended to enhance lentil production and farmer's income, and also to ensure soil health improvement for a sustainable production system. The new package developed through this study will be transferred to farmers as "Extension Message" by the Department of the Directorate of Agricultural Extension and NGOs.