Shortages of water and the rapid spread of two-wheel tractors (2WT) have created the opportunity to develop locally-adapted conservation agriculture (CA) techniques for crop establishment by rice-based smallholders in South Asia. During 2009, the wet season rice (Oryza sativa L.) was transplanted into minimum tillage puddled; unpuddled-bed and strip tillage conditions in the drought-prone area of Bangladesh, to assess establishment methods that could reduce crop production cost and water use. Land preparations were done by the 2-WT operated, Versatile Multi-crop Planter (VMP) recently developed by CIMMYT, Bangladesh. Tillage treatments did not influence the shoot dry matter production. There was 65 % less diesel fuel required in the strip tillage treatment than with beds formed by VMP. Labour requirement for land preparation in beds formed by a shaper were 4.5 times higher than single pass puddling and beds formed by VMP. Time required to transplant seedlings was almost doubled in unpuddled plots relative to puddled plots. Weeding cost was higher in beds formed by VMP and strip tillage plots compared to other tillage treatments. Regardless of tillage treatment, 41-43 % less irrigation water was used by crops established by VMP planting operations as compared to a traditional tillage system

Bell, R.W.

Haque, M.E.

Hossain, M.M.

Islam, A.K.M.S.

Saleque, M.A.

English

Research Repository

© 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 1 – 6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia.  Published on DVD. 169 Water and fuel saving technologies: Unpuddled bed and strip tillage for wet season rice cultivation in Bangladesh   AKM Saiful IslamA, ME HaqueB, MM HossainC, MA SalequeD and RW BellE  ADept. of FPM, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh, Email akmsaifulislam68@gmail.com BInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Bangladesh, Email e.haque@cgiar.org CDept. of FPM, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh, Email mosharraf53@yahoo.com DSoil Science Division, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh, Email asaleque_brri@yahoo.com EMurdoch University, WA, Australia, Email R.bell@murdoch.edu.au  Abstract Shortages of water and the rapid spread of two-wheel tractors (2WT) have created the opportunity to develop locally-adapted conservation agriculture (CA) techniques for crop establishment by rice-based smallholders in South Asia. During 2009, the wet season rice (Oryza sativa L.) was transplanted into minimum tillage puddled; unpuddled-bed and strip tillage conditions in the drought-prone area of Bangladesh, to assess establishment methods that could reduce crop production cost and water use. Land preparations were done by the 2-WT operated, Versatile Multi-crop Planter (VMP) recently developed by CIMMYT, Bangladesh. Tillage treatments did not influence the shoot dry matter production. There was 65 % less diesel fuel required in the strip tillage treatment than with beds formed by VMP. Labour requirement for land preparation in beds formed by a shaper were 4.5 times higher than single pass puddling and beds formed by VMP. Time required to transplant seedlings was almost doubled in unpuddled plots relative to puddled plots. Weeding cost was higher in beds formed by VMP and strip tillage plots compared to other tillage treatments. Regardless of tillage treatment, 41-43 % less irrigation water was used by crops established by VMP planting operations as compared to a traditional tillage system.   Key Words Versatile Multi-crop Planter, drought, bed formation, transplanted rice   Introduction The northwest region of Bangladesh has drought prone areas, even though mean annual rainfall is 1645 mm (BMDA 1995). This area is covered with thick clay layers, which have low permeability. At the same time, the average depths of the deep tubewells already sunk into the soil are greater in comparison with other areas of Bangladesh (Khan et al. 1997). Due to uneven distribution of rainfall and limited availability of surface water, groundwater becomes the main source of irrigation water. Climate change, particularly higher temperatures, and higher rates of groundwater withdrawal may exacerbate drought during cool and dry seasons. Lower rainfall reduces recharge to the aquifers. The water table is declining and many of the tubewells are inoperable in the dry season (Bhuiyan 1982).  Moreover, at the end of the transplanted rice season, puddled paddy fields dry and form cracks. The cracks accelerate water evaporation. The hard, dry surface of such soils hindered crop establishment until the introduction of 2-WT for cultivation. Presently, more than 0.35 million Chinese-made 2-WTs are being used in Bangladesh for agricultural purposes (Haque et al. 2004). Conservation agriculture helps farmers to reduce production costs while maintaining or increasing crop yields, and improving soil health, crop diversity and timeliness of cultivation. The CA technologies like reduced tillage, strip tillage, bed planting, and direct seeding might be applicable to conditions in northwest Bangladesh. Successful development of 2-WT based implements, zero tillage, strip tillage, minimum tillage and bed planters in Bangladesh have created several avenues for the pursuit of CA. However, farmers could only afford to engage in CA if they could purchase a single implement able to perform many operations. Thus, the 2-WT tractor operated VMP was developed with the provision to use adjustable row spacing of crops for zero tillage, strip tillage, minimum tillage, bed planting, and even conventional tillage operation; seeding and fertilizer application occur simultaneously in a single pass operation (UNAPCAEM 2009). A single tillage system is not feasible for all soils and climatic conditions. Therefore, the choice of the best suited tillage system must be appropriate for the particular agroecological environment. In this study, different tillage systems were compared in wet season rice during 2009 for establishing rice in a drought-prone zone of Bangladesh.  Methodology The experiment was conducted at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Regional station, Rajshahi. The study area lies at 24°69´N and 88°30´E. Agroclimatic (rainfall, evapotranspiration and thermal © 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 1 – 6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia.  Published on DVD. 170 condition) data were collected from the BRRI weather station. Initial bulk density in 0-7.5 cm depth was 1.21 (g/cm3) at 39.7 % gravimetric water content and bulk density in 7.5-15 cm depth was 1.51 (g/cm3) at 26.3 % gravimetric water content. The soil pH and organic carbon in the experimental field were 7.96 and 7.9 g/kg, respectively.   Four tillage treatments in the experiment were: (i) Single pass puddling by 2 WT (T1); (ii) Single pass puddling by 2 WT followed by bed formed by operating a shaper tool manually 8 days after transplanting (T2); (iii) Bed formed by VMP in single pass (T3) and; (iv) Strip tillage by VMP in single pass (T4). The plot size was 221 m2.  Before transplanting, land was leveled in the puddled plots. Two persons were engaged in the leveling operation. One labourer was needed to pull the shaper in the puddled field. The shaper was operated in the field three times to form a good bed shape. Wet season rice (July – November) grown was BR11, a popular high yielding variety. Thirty-five day old seedlings were transplanted in all tillage treatments. Seedlings were transplanted into puddled conditions (T1 and T2)  or unpuddled conditions (T3 and T4). The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block (RCB) design. The seedling spacing for T1 and T2 was 25 x 15 cm, and 20 x 15 cm for T3 and T4. In the T2 and T4 treatments, the width of beds and furrows were 35 cm and 20 cm, respectively. Data on task time, fuel consumption and agronomic performance were collected from all treatment plots. Derived-carbon dioxide emissions from field operations were calculated from the diesel used in tillage operation using the conversion factor of 2.6 kg of CO2 per kg of diesel consumed (Greece 2003). Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was used to determine the significant differences among the treatments.   Results and discussion Fuel consumption Fuel consumption was significantly higher (26.8 l/ha) in T3 treatment than other treatments (Table 1). Fuel consumption in T4 treatment was lowest (9.5 l/ha) among the tillage treatments i.e. 65 % less fuel was required compared to T4. Conventional puddling required 16.5 l/ha whereas, tilling and seeding operation done by 2 WT operated seeder (PTOS) in single pass operation saved 40 % of diesel fuel per hectare per year (Miah et al. 2008). Carbon dioxide emission was higher (69.7 kg/ha) in T3 treatment whereas CO2 emission was lower in T4 treatment (24.7 kg/ha) (Figure 1). Conventional puddling was done by 2 WT and required 4-5 passes to make a favourable condition for establishing transplanted rice. Strip tillage method reduced by 65 and 48 % CO2 emission as compared to the bed by VMP and single pass puddling operations, respectively.  01020304050607080T1 T2 T3 T4Tillage practicesCO2 emission, kg/ha Figure 1. Effect of tillage practices on carbon dioxide emission.  Field capacity Tillage treatments had a significant effect on the field capacity (Table 1). Field capacity of VMP during bed formation in a single pass was lowest i.e. (0.065 ha/hr). Conventionally, a farmer would use 6-8 tillage passes, 2-3 leveling passes and 50-60 man days labour (0.002 hr/ha) to make a bed. Whereas, the field capacity of 2 WT using the rotavator to puddle the plot in a single pass operation was 0.166 ha/hr.   Labour requirement in land preparation and transplanting Land preparation included tillage operation by VMP and puddling, leveling and shaper operation manually. Labour requirement for land preparation in T2 treatment was 4.5 times higher than in T1 and T4 (Table 1). There was no significant difference in labour requirements for land preparation between T1 and T4. The greatest time was required for transplanting seedlings in T4 (296.1 man-hr/ha) i.e. almost double the time needed in T1 and T2 (Table 1). Poor visibility of strips under muddy flood water caused difficulties for people when transplanting seedlings in the hard surface of untilled soils. Similar problems were encountered when transplanting seedlings in T3. The whole plot was inundated one day before transplanting so the soil © 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 1 – 6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia.  Published on DVD. 171 was not soft enough to push the seedling roots into the soil easily.  Table 1. Tillage effect on fuel consumption, field capacity, labour requirement in land preparation and transplanting. Labour requirement (man-hr/ha) Treatment Fuel consumption (l/ha) Field capacity (ha/hr) Land preparation  Transplanting T1 19.5 ab 0.166 a 19.2 c 151.1 c T2 18.6 b 0.160 ab 85.5 a 168.2 bc T3 26.8 a 0.065 c 32.3 b 200.6 b  T4 9.5 c 0.109 bc 19.0 c 296.1 a   In a column, means followed by a common letter are not significantly different at 5 % level by DMRT.  Irrigation water savings CA tillage treatment types did not have any significant effect on irrigation water requirement during wet season rice cultivation, but about 41-43% less water was required compared to reports from a conventional tillage system by Rashid (2005) (Table 2). Lowest water usage was required in T3 (614 mm). Rahman and Islam (2008) observed that 37 % water usage can be saved if rice is transplanted in a bed as compared to the conventional tillage system without sacrificing grain yield during the dry season (January to May).  Table 2. Water requirement in different tillage system. Treatment No. of irrigation Irrigation water, mm Effective rainfall1, mm Total water, mm Water savings (%) Conventional tillage* Not available 207 775 1082* - T1 10 260 376 636 41 T2 10 254 376 630 42 T3 10 240 376 614 43 T4 10 247 376 623 42 *Rashid (2005), 1http://www.alanasmith.com/theory-Calculating-Effective-Rainfall.htm   Effect of tillage on plant height, number of tillesr per hill, and crop growth rate Numbers of hills/m2 were significantly different in the tillage plots due to varied line spacing (Table 3). Number of hills/m2 was higher (30.8) in strip tillage plots than others. Tillage treatments had a significant effect on plant height up to 55 days after transplanting (DAT)(Table 3). The number of tillers/hill increased with time, up to 40 DAT, during which time there was also a significant effect of tillage treatment on tiller number/hill. After 40 DAT, the numbers of tiller per hill declined and tillage treatment had no significant effect on tiller number per hill in 55 DAT. This suggests an overriding effect of plant competition among the tillers by 55 DAT. Regardless of tillage treatment, shoot dry matter of plants per ha were similar, up to 55 DAT.   Table 3. Effect of tillage on plant height, number of tillers per hill and shoot dry matter. Tillage treatment Parameter DAT T1 T2 T3 T4 No. of hill/m2 0 23.4 b 23.2 b 22.2 b 30.8 a 20 36.7 a 35.7 a 36.4 a 34.2 b 40 60.9 b 61.6 a 59.1 c 56.8 d 55 81.0 a 81.4 a 79.4 ab  77.5 b  Plant height, cm 65 83.7 a  83.8 a 82.4 ab 80.1 b 20 10.2 a 9.8 a 10.2a 7.8 b 40 20.7 ab 20.7 ab 22.4a 18.1 b 55 19.3 19.8 21.1 17.3NS No. of tiller/hill 65 18.2 b  19.3 ab  20.4 a 16.3 c 20 434 331 370 375  40 2927  2570 2452. 3080  Shoot dry matter, kg/ha 55 5370 5912 5475 6109 In a row, means followed by a common letter are not significantly different at 5 % level by DMRT. NS- Not significant © 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 1 – 6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia.  Published on DVD. 172 Cost of land preparation and transplanting, weeding and irrigation under different tillage system Highest land preparation cost was incurred by the T2 treatment (49 US$/ha) and lowest cost (14 US$/ha) by T4 because of low fuel and labour requirement. Tillage treatment had a significant effect on transplanting cost (Table 4). Transplanting cost was highest in T4 because more time was needed to transplant seedling in unpuddled conditions. Weeding cost was highest in T3 and T4. Tillage treatment had no significant effect on irrigation cost.  Table 4. Cost of land preparation and transplanting, weeding and irrigation (US$) under different tillage systems. Tillage treatment Parameter T1 T2 T3 T4 Land preparation  21 c  49 a 31 b   14 c Transplanting 43 c 48 bc 57 b  84 a Weeding 65 b 58 b 194 a  166 a Irrigation 17  16 15 15  In a row, means followed by a common letter(s) are not significantly different at 5 % level by DMRT.  Conclusion Regardless of the form of CA tillage treatment, about 41-43 % less water was required compared to a conventional tillage system. Lowest water usage was required in the beds formed by the shaper treatment (614 mm). Fuel consumption had significant variation among the treatments, with 65 % less fuel required in strip tillage treatments by VMP. However, labour use was higher for transplanting and weeding in unpuddled strip tillage. Irrespective of tillage treatment, shoot dry matter production was similar up to 55 DAT. Initial results indicate that the VMP could be used in multiple modes for crop establishment of rice, i.e., strip tillage, minimum tillage, bed formation and conventional tillage.  Acknowledgement The authors acknowledge the continuous support from Dr. MA Rahman, PSO and Mr. Biswajit Karmaker, SSO, BRRI to execute the CA research.  Reference Bhuiyan, SI (1982) Irrigation system management research and selected methodological issues. IRRI research paper series no. 81, IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines. BMDA (1995) Barind Multipurpose Development Authority Project, Rajshahi- At a glance. Barendra Bhaban, Rajshahi. Grace ER (2003) Rice-Wheat system and climate change. Addressing resource conservation issues in Rice-Wheat systems of South Asia: A resource book. Rice-Wheat consortium for Indo-Gangetic Plains-International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, New Delhi, pp 63-67. Haque ME, Meisner CA, Hossain I, Justice C, Sayre K (2004) Two-Wheel Tractor Operated Seed Drill: A Viable Crop Establishment and Resource Conservation Option. Proc. Int. Conf. Beijing Sponsored by CIGR, CSAM and CSAE Beijing, China 11- 14 October 2004. Khan LR, Islam MN, Zaman MW (1997) Project proposal on “Environmental impacts of groundwater abstraction in Barind area” Contract Research project of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council. Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Miah MMA, Haque ME, Wohab MA, Dixon J, Alam QM, Islam MS, Hossain MI, Baksh ME (2008) Adoption Impact of Two Wheel Tractor Operated Seeder in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur 1701 and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Apdo., Mexico. pp. 46. Mazid MA, Jabber MA, Mortimer M, Wade LJ, Riches CR, Orr AW (2003) Improving rice-based cropping systems in north-west Bangladesh: diversification and weed management. The BCPC International Congress, Crop Production and Protection. p 1029-1034. Rahman MA, Islam AKMS (2008) Crop performance in bed formed by furrow maker. An unpublished research report. FMPHT Division, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. 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Adoption Impact of Two Wheel Tractor Operated Seeder

Barind Multipurpose Development Authority Project, Rajshahi- At a glance. Barendra Bhaban,

Crop performance in bed formed by furrow maker. An unpublished research report. FMPHT Division,

Groundwater management for rice irrigation in Barind area of Bangladesh. An

Improving rice-based cropping systems in north-west Bangladesh: diversification and weed management.

Irrigation system management research and selected methodological issues. IRRI research paper series no. 81, IRRI,

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Rice-Wheat system and climate change. Addressing resource conservation issues in RiceWheat systems of South Asia: A resource book. Rice-Wheat consortium for Indo-Gangetic PlainsInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center,

Two-Wheel Tractor Operated Seed Drill: A Viable Crop Establishment and Resource Conservation Option.

Water and fuel saving technologies: Un-puddled bed and strip tillage for wet season rice cultivation in Bangladesh

http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/14798/

Water and fuel saving technologies: Un-puddled bed and strip tillage for wet season rice cultivation in Bangladesh

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