ABSTRACT

Thirty-seven accessions of deshi jute germplasm collected from different sources were evaluated at Jute Research Regional Station, Kishoregonj during kharif season of 2016. The accessions were characterized for eight morpho-agronomic attributes as per Corchorus descriptor in order to select superior genotypes of jute. Considerable ranges of variability were observed in plant technical height, base diameter, node number, dry fiber weight and dry stick weight. The highest dry fiber weight was observed in accession 4986 (17.65 g/plant) followed by variety CVL-1 (16.64 g/plant), accessions 4460 (17.54 g/plant), 4484 (17.45 g/plant), 69 (13.62 g/plant) 75 (13.53 g/plant) and 67 (12.16 g/plant). From two years evaluation it was revealed that the twelve accessions viz. 4986, 4460, 4484, 58, 67, 69, 73, 84, 3936, 4474, 4706 and 4995 were performed better in most of the cases than the control variety CVL-1. These accessions may be used as the tools for varietal development program of deshi jute. Key words: Deshi jute, evaluation, germplasm.

Introduction
Jute an herbaceous annual plant from the Tiliaceae family, mostly grown in Southeast Asian countries (José et al., 2009). It is used in the manufacture of a number of fabrics such as hessian cloth, sacking, scrim, carpet backing cloth (CBC), and canvas. It is also used as a raw material for the production of paper and pulp (IJO, 1994). Jute plays a very important role in Bangladesh economy as the country earns about 1213% of total foreign currency by exporting jute and jute product (BJRI, 1998). Bangladesh, the second largest producer of jute, produces the best quality jute in the world and leads the export market (Rayhan et al., 2008). In addition, this crop is particularly important in Bangladesh where many small families depend on the income from growing and selling jute (Ghosh et al., 2013). Jute covered 6.95% of the total cultivated area occupying 0.5 million hectares and producing 0.96 million metric tons of jute fiber (AIS, 2003). In Bangladesh, the number of recommended jute varieties is limited in terms of fulfilling the requirements of wide agro-ecological conditions. Most of these varieties are quite old and have narrow genetic base and susceptible to various biotic and abiotic stresses such as insects, pests, diseases, drought, water logging, and low temperature and so on. All these factors combined with the increasing demand of jute in the world market, the new types of jute need to be developed to meet the various Agro-Industrial needs. In order to increase the frequency of desired genotypes in breeding progenies, superior parents with high breeding values are needed. However, the development of such parents is a long term and tedious job. Variability and genetic diversity are the fundamental laws of plant breeding which are major tools being used in parent selection for efficient breeding programme. For this region, firstly need to identify and evaluate promising and superior germplasms. The Gene Bank of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) has been conserved about 6023 germplasms of jute, kenaf, mesta and allied fiber of both indigenous and exotic origin. Out of this 2400 germplasms are Corchorus capsularis. Already about 443 germplasms are characterized as per Corchorus descriptor. Thirty-seven selected accessions of deshi jute (Corchorus capsularis) germplasms received from different sources to evaluate the superior germplasms for varietal development programme.

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Filed Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh from 5 January to 20 April, 2008 to investigate the effect of rate and timing of nitrogen application on the yield of soybean var. shohag. There were five levels of nitrogen viz. 0, 25, 40, 55 and 70 kg N ha-1 and three application timing viz. basal, 2/3 at basal + 1/3 at 25 DAS and 1/3 at basal + 1/3 at 25 DAS +1/3 at 35 DAS. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications having unit plot size of 4 m×2.5m. Both the rate and timing of nitrogen application had significant influence on all the characters except stover yield plant-1. The performance of 25 kg N ha-1 and two timing of nitrogen application at 2/3 basal + 1/3 25 DAS was found to be the best. Interaction effect of rate and timing of N application significantly influenced all the characters except, number of filled pods plant-1, stover yield plant-1 and stover yield. The highest seed yield (2.08 t ha-1) and stover yield (2.82 t ha-1) were produced in plots applied with 25 kg N ha-1 in two splits as 2/3 basal + 1/3 25 DAS. However, the application of 25 kg N ha-1 at 2/3 basal + 1/3 25 DAS could give high yield of soybean var. Shohag.

Key words: Rate, timing, nitrogen application, yield, soybean.

Introduction
Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merril) is one of the leading oil seed and grain legume crops of the world belonging to the family leguminosae, sub-family papilionaceae. It grows well in different regions of the world, particularly in the tropics to the mid temperate zones. According to FAO (2003) the area, production and average yield under soybean of the world in 2003 are 83,695 thousand hectares, 189234 thousand tons and 2.26 tons ha-1, respectively. In Bangladesh the area under soybean is about 5 thousand hectare with a production of 4 thousand tons and the yield ranges from 1.50 to 2.30 tons ha-1 (BARI, 2005). It is a new and prospective crop in Bangladesh. Soybean may be called the “Golden bean” or “Miracle bean” or the “Nugget of nutrition” or the “Protein hope of future” because of its high nutritive value containing about 42-45% protein, 18-20% edible oil and 42-46% carbohydarde (Gowda and Kaul, 1982). It also contains essential amino acids. It is a source of Calcium, Phosphorus and Iron including vitamin A, B, C, D and can meet up different nutritional needs of human beings (Rahman, 1982). On an average about 8-10% of the protein intake in Bangladesh diet originates from animal sources (Begum, 1989) and the rest can be met from plant sources by increasing the consumption of vegetables and pulses including soybean. Now a days, a variety of saya product such as “soya dal”, “soya chatni”, soya-khichuri”, “ soya-milk”, “soyacurd”, soya-flour” and roasted soybean snacks becoming familiar to the people of Bangladesh (Smith, 1975). The lower yield of soybean at farmer’s level is mainly attributed to the lack of improved agronomic management practices of which judicious fertilizer application is an important determinant for better performance of soybean. Among the nutrients, nitrogen is a major essential plant nutrient element and has favorable effect on yield and yield contributing character of soybean (Lahoria et al. 2004). It has the quickest and most pronounced effect on plant growth and yield of crops. It tends primarily to encourage above ground vegetative growth and to impart deep green colour to the leaves. Improper use of nitrogen fertilizer instead of giving increased yield may even reduce the same. Plants receiving insufficient nitrogen are stunted in growth with restricted root system; the leaves turn yellow or yellowish green and tend to drop off. Proper timing of nitrogen application reduces the loss of nitrogen in the soybean field and gives higher 68

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted at the Najirpur farm near Pabna town of during the period from 05 February 2015 to 25 May 2015 to observe the performance (growth and yield) of okra, bottle gourd grown at different distances from the Xylia dolabriformis. Different treatments of the experiment were T1 (3 feet distance from tree), T2 (6 feet distance from tree), T3 (9 feet distance from tree), T4 (open field referred as control). The experiment was laid out in RCBD for all crops with 3 replications. The result of the experiment revealed that the yield of the crops increased gradually with the increase of planting distance from the tree. In Okra the highest value of yield (12.50 tha-1) was found in T3 which was statistically similar to treatment T4 (open field referred as control). In case of Bottle gourd, it was also found that treatment T3 (9 feet distance from tree) produced highest yields 70 tha-1) which were statistically similar to treatment T4 (open field referred as control). In cases of lowest yield was found in T1 (3 feet distance from the tree).

Key words: Performance, agroforestry, bottle gourd.

Introduction
In Bangladesh, a large number of vegetable are grown throughout the year including summer season. About 30 per cent of vegetable are produced in summer and rainy seasons. The average consumption of vegetable in Bangladesh is only 70 g per head per day including potato and sweet potato. To supply the minimum daily requirement of 200g vegetable head day-1, national production of vegetable should be over 10 million ton in addition. The effective area of forest in Bangladesh is neither in a position to fulfill the requirements of the people’s fuel and timber nor to stabilize the climatic condition. So, conflict for land use between agriculture and forestry are prevalent in Bangladesh. Under these circumstances it is necessary to find out a suitable alternative to overcome this situation. Since there is no scope for expanding forest area and sole grain crops area. Recently, some techniques have already been advocated to overcome future food challenges, vegetable agroforestry is one of them (Basak et al., 2009). Unfortunately Bangladesh is endowed with only 17.5% of unevenly distributed forests. In Bangladesh, different crops are cultivated in summer season. Among the different summer vegetables okra and bottle gourd are the important summer vegetables in Bangladesh (Khatun et al., 2009). These are well known and very popular vegetables grown successfully during summer season in Bangladesh. For identifying the compatible tree-crop combination, particularly under storey species i.e. different crops should be screened out in terms of their adaptability and yield in association with the early stage of tree. Therefore, it would be wise to conduct experiments under different tree crop or vegetable combination at different spacing for screening of different crops in terms of their growth and yield performance. The specific objectives of the study were to observe the performance of okra, and bottle gourd in association with Xylia dolabriformis tree and to observe interaction effect of Xylia dolabriformis tree on okra, bottle gourd.

ABSTRACT

Thirty-five accessions with one variety of mesta germplasm were collected from Gene Bank of BJRI and conducted at Jute Agriculture Experimental Station (JAES), Manikganj during kharif season in 2016. The accessions were characterized for twenty morpho-agronomic traits as per Hibiscus descriptor in order to select superior genotypes for the genetic improvement of mesta. Considerable ranges of variability were observed in stem colour, petiole colour, stipule colour, plant technical height, base diameter, dry fiber weight and dry stick weight. Considering the major yield contributing characters accessions 3851, 4081, 3592 and 1993, performed better in most of the cases than the check variety (HS-24).

Key words: Mesta, genetic variability, morphotypic characters.

Introduction

Hibiscus L. is the type genus of the tribe Hibisceae of the family Malvaceae (BarssumWaalkes, 1966). The genus contains about 300 species that grow in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world (Anderson and Pharis, 2003). It includes both annual and perennial herbaceous plants. Some of the species are economically important as a source of food, beverage, fiber, medicines and other species such as ornamentals (Wilson and Menzel, 1964; Bolade et al., 2009). One species of Hibiscus, known as mesta (Hibiscus sabdariffa) which is originated in Africa (David and Adam, 1988) and widely cultivated in West Africa as vegetable plant. Mesta also known as sorrel, roselle, karkade and popular plant in Middle Eastern countries (Morton, 1987; AbuTarboush et al., 1997). It is also found in almost all tropical countries including Malaysia, South East Asia, Indonesia, and Thailand (Rao, 1996). Mesta is currently an important cash crop grown in the river banks and char areas of Bangladesh. There is one variety currently available for growers to cultivate in Bangladesh. It is grown mainly for its red acid succulent calyces that can be made into a drink or to make jams or jellies. The red coloring makes it a popular ingredient of commercial herbal teas. In some places its leaves are also used as a vegetable and its stem has a fiber that is sometimes used for domestic purposes. The seeds contain oil, which is good as a lubricant fuel, and used for making soap. The Gene Bank of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) has been conserved about 6012 germplasm of jute, kenaf, mesta and allied fiber of both indigenous and exotic origin. Out of these 476 germplasm of Hibiscus sabdariffa, about 324 germplasm are characterized as per Hibiscus Descriptor. The rest of germplasm need to characterize and find out superior germplasm for varietal development programme. To fulfill the above desire the present study was carried out at Jute Agriculture Experimental Station (JAES), Manikganj during kharif season in 2016.

Materials and Methods
The experiment was conducted at Jute Agriculture Experimental Station (JAES), Manikganj sowing seeds on 9 April, 2016. Thirty entries along with the check variety HS-24 were taken in to this study. Each accession was sown in 5 rows of 3 m length; spacing was 30 cm between rows, 5-6 cm between plants and 1 m between plots. Standard cultural and inter-cultural practices were followed. Pigmentation data on stem colour, leaf colour, vein colour, petiole colour, stipule colour, bud colour, and fruit colour were collected at

ABSTRACT

To observe the growth and yield attributes of mustard under different sowing dates and fertilizer levels, a field experiment was carried out at the research field of the Department of Crop Science and Technology, Rajshahi University, Rajshahi during the period from October, 2018 to February, 2019 with mustard (Brassica sp.) var. “BARI Sarishal-14”. The study consisted three different sowing dates i.e. 31st October, 10th November and 20th November as well as three levels of fertilizers viz. 80-20-30 kg/ha NPK (Farmers practice), 90-30-40-25-1.0 kg/ha NPKSB (MYG) and 100-40-50-35-1.5 kg/ha NPKSB (HYG). Different treatments showed significant effects on growth and yield attributes of mustard. The results revealed that the combination of sowing on10th November and highest level of fertilizer (HYG) produced the highest plant height, no. leaves/ plant, no. of branches/plant, siliqua length, no. of siliqua/plant, no. of seeds/siliqua, 1000 seed weight, seed yield and minimum days to maturity. On the other hand the studied growth and yield attributes of mustard except days to maturity found to be the lowest due to sowing date of 20th November along with fertilizer as farmers practice. The study concluded that mustard seeds need to be sowed on 10th November and 100-40-50-35-1.5 kg/ha NPKSB is to be applied for getting the targeted yield as well as desired return from mustard cultivation in “High Ganges River Floodplain zones” of Bangladesh.

Key words: Sowing date, fertilizer, growth, yield, mustard.

Introduction

Mustard (Brassica sp.) belongs to the family Brassicaceae (formally Cruciferae) is one of the most important oil crops originated in southern Europe from where it was introduced to Asia and Africa (Downey and Robblene, 1989). Among the mustard producing countries, Canada occupies the first position followed by Nepal, Ukraine and Burma (FAO, 2010). It is a cool, thermo sensitive as well as photosensitive crop (Ghosh and Chatterjee, 1988). Bangladesh is principally an agricultural country and produces a good number of oilseed crops like mustard, sesame, groundnut, linseed, safflower, sunflower, soybean, castor etc. The first three of these are considered as the major oil seed crops. Mustard and rapeseed are quietly significant in Bangladesh economy. It is an important and the top ranking oil seed crop in Bangladesh. The seed contains 40-45% oil and 20-25% protein. It also serves as an important raw material for industrial use such as in soap, paints, varnishes, hair oils, lubricants, textile auxiliaries, pharmaceuticals, etc. Its oil not only plays a great role as fat substitute in our daily diet but also nourish the economy of the nation. It is widely used as a cooking ingredient, condiment and for its medicinal value. Moreover, mustard oil cake is utilized as cattle feed and small quantities are also used as manure. It covers about 80% of the total oilseed acreage and about 71% of the total production (BBS, 2009). Last ten years have witnessed gradual decline in an area of 104 thousand hectare and production 68 thousand tons of mustard and rapeseed (Anonymous, 2006). Though the production of edible oil is being decreased, whereas, the demand is increasing day by day with the increasing population. Cultivation of low yielder local varieties, late sowing and proper fertilizer management are the major causes for poor yield of mustard in the country (Alam and Rahman, 2006). There is a great scope of increasing yield of mustard by selecting high yielding varieties and improving management practices. Time of sowing is very important for mustard production (Rahman et al., 1988 and Mondal et al., 1999). Sowing at proper time allows sufficient growth and development of a crop to obtain a satisfactory yield. The seed yield and maturity of mustard plants are greatly influenced by environmental conditions regardless of proper sowing of times. Different sowing dates provide variable