Effects of the components of conservation agriculture on the profitability of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the Eastern Gangetic Plain of Bangladesh

Abstract

A two year longer on-farm research on conservation agriculture was conducted at Bhangnamari area of Bangladesh during November-June in 2014-15 and 2015-16 to evaluate the performance of non-puddled rice cultivation under increased crop residue retention. The rice variety BRRI dhan28 was transplanted under puddled conventional tillage (CT) vs. non-puddled strip tillage (ST) with 50% standing residue (R50) vs. conventional no-residue (R0) practice. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. There were no significant yield differences between tillage practices and residue levels in 2014-15. But in the following year, ST yielded 9% more grain compared to CT leading to 22% higher BCR. Retention of 50% residue increased yield by 3% over no-residue, which contributed to 10% higher benefit-cost ratio (BCR). Results of this two year on-farm study confirmed that the ST combined with 50% residue retention yielded the highest grain yield (5.81 t ha-1) which contributed to produce the highest BCR (1.06).