Bangladesh Institute Of Nuclear Agriculture Research Articles

Physicochemical properties of soil at Habla union of Basail upazila in Tangail

An experiment was conducted to examine the physicochemical properties of soil at Habla union under Basail upazila in Tangail based on the BINA (Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture) laboratory analysis of physical and chemical parameters during January to March, 2014. Total 30 soil samples from 10 points of Habla union were collected from 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, and 30-40 cm depth of the soil respectively. To determine the soil texture the results were compared with the standard value of SRDI and BARC. Among the 30 soil samples, 25 soils texture classes were found sandy clay loam, 4 were sandy clay and rest one was clay loam. The comparative analysis showed that the average texture class is sandy clay loam. The bulk density ranged from1.23 to 1.91 g/cm3 for the total samples which leads to decide that bulk density is gradually increasing with soil depth. The moisture percentage at different depth of soil were 39.23 to 57.23 % (for 0-15 cm), 43.02 to 58.35 % (for 15-30 cm) and 42.08 to 58.24% (for 30-45 cm).The pH obtained from soil samples of the study area were 4.66 to 5.55 (for 0-15cm), 5.37 to 6.18(for 15-30cm), 6.33to 6.60 (for 30-45 cm). The percentage of organic matter of the soil samples were 0.55 to 3.97 % (for 0-15cm), 0.55 to 3.24 % (for 15-30cm), 0.69 to 2.28 % (for 30-45cm).The organic matter content in the surface soil is relatively low compared to standard level that decreases steadily with depth. The percentage of nitrogen (N %) was observed in different depth of the soil were 0.078 to 0.126 % (for 0-15 cm), 0.049 to 0.126 % (for 15-30 cm), to 0.074 % (for 30-45 cm) which revealed that the percentages of total nitrogen were fall with the depth compared to standard level. In different depth of soil, it was observed that the level of phosphorus (P) was very low compared to standard level where the phosphorus (P) concentration of the soil samples were 1.18 to 2.90 mg/kg (for 0-15 cm), 1.30 to 9.95 mg/kg (for 15-30 cm), 1.58 to 10.92 mg/kg (for 30-45 cm). On the other hand, it was observed that the sulfur (S) concentration was increased with the depth of soil compared to standard level. The sulfur (S) concentration of the soil samples were 5.21 to 11.98 mg/kg (for 0-15 cm), 5.37 to 14.16 mg/kg (15-30 cm), 9.03 to 15.09 mg/kg (30-45 cm). The potassium (K) concentration of the soil samples were 0.038 to 0.102 mg/kg (for 0-15 cm), 0.031 to 0.90 mg/kg (for 15-30 cm) 0.055 to 0.171 mg/kg (for 30-45 cm), which indicated that the low K content compared to the standard level. The overall physicochemical parameter of soil samples were not optimum for good agricultural production. As we know all the parameters either directly or indirectly influence the soil fertility and productivity. This was probably the reason for low productivity of soil in the study area.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2016, 2(4): 664-671

Evaluation of Promising Mung Bean Mutants Against Foot and Root Rot, Cercospora Leaf Spot and Yellow Mosaic Diseases

The experiment was conducted to evaluate disease resistant mutants against foot and root rot, Cercospora leaf spot and mung bean yellow mosaic disease under natural epiphytotic condition, 9 mutants collecting from the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture were used in this experiment. Among the mutants, MBM-07(S)-2 was found resistant against the foot and root rot disease followed by MBM-347-13, MBM-390-94-Y and MBM-656-51-2. Most of all plants of each plot were attacked by Cercospora leaf spot of mung bean. The highest yellow mosaic disease incidence 84.76% was recorded in MBM-80 (LCAL) and the lowest 20.00% in MBM-527-114 followed by MBM-07-Y-2 (30.00%) and MBM-427-87-3 (33.67%). The highest yellow mosaic disease severity 26.84% was observed in MBM-80 (LCAL) and the lowest 0.38% was observed in MBM-527-114 followed by MBM-656-51-2 (1.04%) and MBM-427-87-3 (1.63%). The highest number of seeds per pod was counted in MBM-07-Y-1 and the highest 1000 seed weight was observed in BARI Moog-6 (50.00 gm) followed by MBM-527-114 (45.67 gm). The highest grain yield 204.44 kg was recorded in MBM-07-Y-1 followed by MBM-390-94-Y (186.66 kg). MBM-07(S)-2, MBM-07-Y-2, MBM-07-Y-1 and MBM-527-114 mutants showed less disease incidence and severity for foot and root rot, Cercospora leaf spot and mung bean mosaic disease and gave better yield than other mutants.

Design and Development of Arsenic and Iron Removal Unit for Drinking Water: A Sustainable Approach in Environment

This study elucidated and attempted to design and development of arsenic and iron removal unit for drinking water. The process of reducing iron and arsenic from water has been experimented by developing a unit in the Department of Farm Structure at Bangladesh Agriculture University, Mymensingh. In order to test the performance of the developed unit, arsenic contaminated water with four different concentrations like 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 mg/l were prepared in the laboratory and passed into the developed unit and the respective output concentrations were found to be 0.00, 0.01, 0.025 and 0.05 mg/l. The input and output concentrations of arsenic were tested in the chemical testing laboratory under the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture, Mymensingh. Iron contaminated water were collected from four selected tube wells of local Mymensingh and were also passed into the developed unit with four input concentrations like 0.18, 0.1532, 0.179 and 0.133 mg/l and the respective output concentrations were found to be 0.10, 0.1021, 0.11 and 0.09 mg/l. The concentrations of Iron were tested in the chemical testing laboratory under the Soil Resource Development Institute, Dhaka. The results have revealed that iron and arsenic content brings to allowable limit. The developed unit has the capacity to remove Arsenic and Iron and help to eradicates hazardous problem of people.

Proline and ascorbic acid content in leaves of NERICA mutant rice lines and their parents under rainfed condition

Proline and ascorbic acid are important osmolytes responsible for drought tolerance in rice. The present study was conducted to determine proline and ascorbic acid content in the leaves of NERICA mutant lines and their parents under rainfed condition. The experiment was conducted in the Biotechnology division of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture and in the laboratory of the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Proline and ascorbic acid contents were determinated by the method developed by Bates et al. 1973 and titrimetric method (Reo, 1954) respectively with three replication. As the experiment was conducted under rainfed condition and due to self-drought tolerance of NERICA lines, proline and ascorbic acid accumulate in significant amount. Free proline content in the leaves of mutant rice lines varied from 9.38 mg/100g to 25.46 mg/100g with a mean value of 17.59 mg/100g. Here maximum proline content was found in N1/300/P-8-3-3 (25.46mg/100g) and minimum in N4/350/P-2(1)-32-11 (9.38mg/100g). Ascorbic acid content in the leaves of rice plant varied from 1.12mg/100g to 1.98 mg/100g with a mean value of 1.59 mg/100g. Here maximum accumulation of ascorbic acid was found in N1/250/P-7-2-1 (1.98mg/100g) and minimum in N1/250/P-7-3-11 (1.12mg/100g).
 Asian Australas. J. Biosci. Biotechnol. 2016, 1 (3), 419-424

Effect of alternate wetting and drying versus continuous flooding on carbon rates in rice and soil

An experiment was conducted at Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) farm, Mymensingh, Bangladesh during 2010-2011 to find out the effect of different water and organic residue rates on rice and soil. Organic carbon rates from cow dung (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 t C ha-1 including control) were evaluated under alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and continuous flooding (CF). CF system in combination with chemical fertilizers and 2.0 t C ha-1 produced the maximum plant height, filled grains tiller-1, 1000 grains weight, grain and straw yields. Combined use of 2.0 t C ha-1 cow dung and CF system decreased CO2-C gas emission, increased carbon accumulation in above ground biomass of rice as well as carbon sequestration in soil. This treatment also helped to optimize soil pH. Based on these results, it may be concluded that continuous flooding system in combination 2.0 t C ha-1 increased grain yield, carbon accumulation in above ground biomass, carbon sequestration in soil and optimized soil pH.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 6 (1): 26-33, June, 2016

Effects of arsenic and moisture regime on nutrient content and their uptake by NERICA rice

A pot experiment was carried out in the net house of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) to study nutrient content and their uptake by different rice varieties (NERICA-1, NERICA-10 and BRRI dhan48) in response to different levels of arsenic (As) under varying moisture regimes. Three levels of As were added viz. 0, 30, 60 ppm to the pot soil from sodium arsenate (Na2HAsO4. 7H2O). After establishment of crops the moisture level of soil was adjusted to maintain flooded, 50% and 100% field capacity condition during crop growing period. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with three replications. The amount of N, P, K, S and Zn was calculated as per their rate of application and was applied to the individual pot. Higher levels of As adversely affected the nutrient content and their uptake by rice except N contents. Nitrogen content increased with the increase of As level. Higher amount of nutrient content and uptake was recorded in BRRI dhan48 and flood condition enhanced higher nutrient content as well as uptake by rice. This study suggests the possible management of moisture regime and considering less As susceptible variety, which might reduce the toxic effects of As on nutrient uptake.J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 12(2): 291-296, December 2014

Effect of Defoliation on Growth and Yield Response in Two Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) Varieties

An experiment was conducted at Plant Physiology laboratory of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture, Mymensingh, Bangladesh to investigate the effect of defoliations on crop characters, yield attributes and yield of two tomato varieties. The experiment comprised five levels of defoliation viz., 0 (control), 3, 6, 9 and 12 leaves defoliation out of 16 leaves and two varieties viz., Binatomato-4 and Binatomato-5. The experiment was laid out in two factors completely randomized design with four replications. Results revealed that defoliation and variety had significant effect on the studied crop characters and yield except the number of effective flower clusters per plant and fruit yield for variety. Most of the parameters like plant height, number of branches and leaves per plant, straw weight per plant, number of effective and non effective flower cluster per plant, number of flowers and fruits per plant, individual fruit weight and fruit yield per plant increased with defoliations over control up to 6 leaves and produced the highest in 3 leaves defoliated plant whereas the lowest was obtained in 12 leaves defoliated plants followed by 9 leaves defoliated plants. Therefore, due to the performance of morphological and yield attributing traits especially number of fruits per plant and number of fruits per cluster were superior in Binatomato-5 but fruit yield was inferior compared to Binatomato-4 in respect of smaller fruit size.

Effect of Temperature on Flower and Pod Abscission and Yield of Three Soybean Genotypes

A pot experiment was conducted at Soil Science Division, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh, during January to April 2014 to investigate the growth, abscission of flower and pod and yield performance of three soybean varieties (BINA Soybean-1, BINA Soybean-2, and Shohag) under three different temperature conditions. Flower abscission number and percentage were maximum in elevated temperature but the abscission of pods plant-1 was found to be the maximum in ambient temperature. In case of the performance of varieties, tallest plant and maximum node plant-1 were noted from the variety Shohag but number of nodules plant-1 , number of seeds pod-1, weight of 100 seed and seed yield was highest in BINA soybean–2 while BINA soybean–1 had maximum flowers plant-1 and pods plant-1. Abscission of flowers plant-1 was maximum in BINA soybean–1 under elevated temperature while similar variety grown under ambient temperature obtained the maximum abscission of pods plant-1 and the variety Shohag grown under elevated temperature noted the maximum abscission percentage of flower at all the data recording stages. These results suggested that ambient temperature and BINA soybean–2 singly or their interaction would be the most significant compared to others.J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 8(2): 89-92 2015

Effect of high temperature on some physiological parameters of grain growth and yield of boro rice varieties

A pot experiment was conducted with four varieties viz. Binadhan-5, Binadhan-6, Binadhan8 and Iratom-24 in the plant growth chamber at Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh to assess the effects of high temperature at different growth stages on yield and yield attributes and photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, leaf conductance and water use efficiency during grain growth period. For yield and yield attributes the following five treatments T0 (Ambient temperature), T1 (36°C at tillering stage), T2 (36°C at panicle initiation stage), T3 (36°C at booting stage), and T4 (36°C at flowering stage) were applied. Two temperature treatments T0 (Ambient temperature) and T1 (30oC) were also maintained during grain growth period. Temperature treatments significantly decreased number of total tillers and effective tillers per plant, filled and unfilled grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, grain yield per plant and harvest index but plant height, non-effective tiller number and panicle length were not affected by temperature treatments. High temperature stress (36 o C) at panicle initiation reduced grain yield more compared to other treatments. The grain dry weight, photosynthetic rate, leaf conductance, transpiration rate decreased but water use efficiency of flag leaf increased with temperature treatments. Binadhan-6 showed the highest grain dry matter accumulation under temperature treatments during grain growth period. Binadhan-6 seems to be tolerant to high temperature.

Effect of herbicides on weed infestation and yield in boro rice

A field experiment was conducted at the agronomy field of the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh, Bangladesh, under wet land condition during December 2014 to May 2015. The aim was to see the effects of the weed control treatments on crop growth and yield in boro rice. Five selected herbicides (Metsulfuron-methyl 20 WG at 50 g/ha, pretilachlor 500 EC at 988 ml/ha, bensulfuran methyl 4%+acetachor 14% 18 WP at 800 g/ha, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP at 125 g/ha and butachlor 5G at 25 kg/ha) were tested along with two hand weedings. Population density, fresh and dry weight of weed were taken. Eight weed species belonging to five families, namely, Echinochloa colonum, Paspalums crobiculatum, Monochoria vaginalis, Leersia hexandra L., Scirpus mucronatus L., Digitaria sanguinalis, Cyperus rotundus and Eclipta alba Hassk were found to grow in the experimental plots. Among the weed control treatments highest grain yield (5.73 t/ha) was produced with the treatment pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP at 125 g/ha followed by two hand weedings (5.50 t/ha). The increased yield due to application of herbicide contributed mainly from increasing the number of total tillers per plant, effective tillers per plant, filled grains per panicle and 1000-seed weight (g). Maximum benefit: cost ratio with pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP at 125 g/ha suggested that this herbicidal treatment could be used as an alternative when labour was a limiting factor in producing transplant boro rice.

Molecular characterization of rice genotypes for Zinc biosynthetic gene(s) using microsatellite simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers

Zinc deficiency is prevalent and affects nearly two billion people in the developing world, where mainly cereals are consumed as staple food by the people. It is essential to study the genetic characters of the rice genotypes containing genes responsible for zinc synthesis so that they can be used as breeding resource to develop nutrient rich rice varieties. In this study, 46 rice (Oryza sativa L., 2n=24) genotypes were studied for their Zinc biosynthesis ability using 3 Rice Microsatellite (RM) markers (RM23, RM217 and RM35) linked to Zn content at Biotechnology Laboratory of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) and Genetics and Plant Breeding Laboratory of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during 5 August, 2013 to 30 April, 2014. The DNA samples were isolated by CTAB mini-prep method from 21 days older rice leaf samples followed by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Three markers (Rm23, RM35 and RM217) showed effective polymorphism in DNA band appearance for Zn content out of ten SSR markers. The alleles were separated on Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (PAGE) system. After molecular analyses of DNA bands using Power Marker software, variation was found in allele number, allele frequency, polymorphism information content (PIC) and gene diversity for each genotype. Number of alleles (23, 19 & 13), PIC-polymorphism information content (0.946, 0.911 & 0.829), gene diversity (0.948, 0.917 & 0.846), rare allele (16, 12 & 8) and null allele (0, 16 & 2) were observed for 3 rice microsatellite (RM) markers viz. RM35, RM217 and RM23, respectively for the 46 rice genotypes. A total of 55 alleles were found by using 3 SSR primers for all genotypes. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 13 to 23 with an average of 18.33 out of total 55 alleles. The UPGMA Dendrogram categorized all the varieties into 7 distinct clusters based on 50% of average genetic distance among the 46 genotypes (Figure 2 and Table 7). Since the primers showed almost similar and highest PIC values, based on this study, the larger range of similarity values using SSR markers will provide greater confidence for the assessment of genetic relationships among the varieties. The information obtained from SSR profiling helped in identifying the varieties containing genes for Zn synthesis among the selected rice genotypes. Among all the rice genotypes, Kumra Ghor, Ghigoj, Tilek Kuchi contained high Zn content found in another chemical analysis. Most of the genotypes contained candidate gene for Zn synthesis and can be used as breeding materials to develop nutrient (Zn) rich rice varieties through different selective breeding methods in future.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2015, 1(2): 187-197

Effect of plant spacing and depth of USG placement on yield of Boro rice

Abstract not availableBangladesh Agron. J. 2014, 17(1): 103-106

The Repellent Effect of Some Indigenous Plant Extracts Against Pulse Beetle (Callosobruchus chinensis)

An Experiment was conducted in the laboratory of the Division of Entomology, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh to evaluate the efficacy of four indigenous plants parts such as leaves of raintree (Albizia saman), riot lata (Mikania micrantha), pithraj (Aphanamixis polystachya) and seeds of mahogani (Swietenia macrophylla) with methanol extracts at the rates of 10.0, 7.5, 5.0 and 2.5% for their direct toxicity against the pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (L.). Among the four plants extracts tested, pithraj leaf showed the highest (52.28%) mean repellency effect followed by riot lata (Mikania) leaf extract (46.07%), mahogani seed extract (38.79%) and raintree leaf extract (25.13%). On the basis of mean repellency rate, it was found that mahogany seed, pithraj leaf and riot lata (Mikania) leaf extracts were in the same repellency class i.e. Class Ill and except raintree leaf (Class II).DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v7i2.22224 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 7(2): 151-154 2014

The Direct Toxicity Effect of Some Indigenous Plant Extracts Against Pulse Beetle (Callosobruchus chinensis)

Experiments were conducted in the laboratory of the Division of Entomology, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh to evaluate the efficacy of four indigenous plants parts such as leaves of raintree (Albizia saman), riot lata (Mikania micrantha), pithraj (Aphanamixis polystachya) and seeds of mahogani (Swietenia macrophylla) with methanol extracts at the rates of 10.0, 7.5, 5.0 and 2.5% for their direct toxicity against the pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (L.). The experiments were set up following Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The results showed that extracts of all the plant parts had very close efficacy in relation to direct toxicity effect and grain protection values. Pithraj leaf extract showed the highest mortality (96.66%) action and raintree leaf extract showed the lowest (80.33%) with 10% extract at 5 DAT. The effectiveness of all the plant extracts were found to increase with the increase of doses and decreased proportionatelly with the increase of timeDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v7i2.22206 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 7(2): 65-67 2014

Effect of Gamma Radiation on Morpho-Physiological Characters of Soybean

An experiment was carried out at the experimental farm of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh during the period from January, 2011 to April, 2011. The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of gamma radiation on morpho-physiological characters of BARI soybean. Four levels of gamma irradiation viz. 200, 300, 400 and 500 Gy ?-ray from 60C source and control were irradiated on assigned two genotypes viz. BARI soybean 5 and BARI soybean 6. Data for growth analyses were collected at different days after sowing. Results revealed that the soybean varieties and gamma irradiation significantly affected morpho-physiological characters where BARI soybean 5 and 200 Gy ?-ray levels produced the greater results alone or combinations. This combination produced the tallest plant (37.42 cm), maximum leaf and branch plant-1 (23.15 and 2.10) at 75 DAS. 200 Gy ?-ray irradiated plants of BARI soybean 5 produced the highest seed yield (2373.70 kg ha-1) followed by control treatment (1887.90 kg ha-1) at the same variety. On the other hand, the plants consequential from 500 Gy ?-ray radiated of BARI soybean 5 had shown the lowest seed yield (1050.70 kg ha-1). This result indicating that irradiation significantly decreased on seed yield with increasing doses of gamma rays. So, the variety BARI soybean 5 and 200 Gy ?-ray alone or combination had outstanding superiority for plant growth over the other gamma ray levels.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v7i2.22199 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 7(2): 25-30 2014

Performance of Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria with Various Phosphorus Levels on Wheat in Pot Culture

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) with various levels of inorganic phosphorus (P) on the growth and yield of wheat with three soil at the Microbiology laboratory, Soil Science Division, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh. Four levels of P fertilizer (P0 : Without P, P24 : 24 mg P kg-1 soil, P36 : 36 mg P kg-1 soil and P48 : 48 mg P kg-1 soil) were assigned as main factors and six PSB inoculants with an uninoculant (I0, MR1, IL1, IW1, IC2, RC1and MW1) were assigned as sub factors in a factorial CRD. The soil used for the experiment belong to three Agroecological Zones (AEZs) such as AEZ 9 from the BAU farm, Mymensingh, AEZ 28 from the BADC farm, Madhupur, Tangail and AEZ 11 from the BINA substation farm, Ishurdi, Pabna. Eight kilogram soils were taken in each of the plastic pot. PSB were applied as broth inoculants with the wheat seeds (var. Shatabdi) before sowing. Irrespective of the PSB inoculants, 36 mg P kg-1 soil gave the highest grain and straw yield of wheat pot-1 with Mymensingh and Mdhupur soil while 48 mg P kg-1 soil showed the highest wheat yield pot-1 with Ishurdi soil. Among the PSB inoculants, MR1 showed the maximum grain and straw yields of wheat pot-1 followed by MW1. The PSB inoculant MR1 with 36 mg P kg-1 soil had better performance in terms of total P uptake and grain and straw yields of wheat.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v6i1.22069 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 6(1): 221-226 2013

Effect of Potassium on Boro-fallow-t. Aman cropping pattern in old Brahmaputra floodplain soil of Bangladesh

Field experiment was conducted at the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) farm, Mymensingh during 2010-11 to 2011-12 to investigate the effect of different levels of K on Boro-Fallow-T. Aman cropping pattern in Old Brahmaputra Floodplain Soil of Bangladesh. There were four treatments for the first crop (Boro rice): T1 (Control), T2 (50% NPKS), T3 (75%NPKS) and T4 (100% NPKS). The 100% NPKS rates were recommended on the basis of soil test values. T4 treated plot of each block was further split into seven sub-plots to represent seven treatments (T4.1 to T4.7) for the second crop of T. Aman in the sequence. The results reveal that the grain yield of boro rice varied from 2.33 to 6.00 t ha-1 of which the highest yield was recorded with the application of 100% NPKS (T4) and the lowest with T1 (control). The effect of boro rice straw removal or incorporation was clearly visible on the following crop, T. Aman rice. The highest grain and straw yields of T. Aman were obtained with T4.4 treatment, where 75% straw was removed and 25% straw incorporated with soil. The lowest yield was obtained with the control crop without fertilizer or straw residues. The NPKS uptake by T. Aman rice and benefit : cost ratio supported the dominant performances of T4.2 (100% NPS + 50% K + 25% boro rice straw removed). The results suggested that it is possible to reduce K mining from soils as well as to reduce the rate of K fertilizer application, substituting by incorporation of rice straw residues in soil system. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/sja.v12i2.21924 SAARC J. Agri., 12(2): 123-133 (2014)

Effect of Gamma Irradiation Doses on Morphological and Biochemical Attributes of Grape Saplings

The demand of grape in Bangladesh is fulfilled through import from foreign countries. The fruits of local cultivars of grapes are sour and seeded. Development of seedless grape varieties having increased sweetness, higher yield with better nutritional quality is necessary to reduce the import dependency. The present research activities are the part of a grape improvement project. A pot experiment was conducted at the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh, during June to November 2011 to determine the suitable gamma irradiation doses on growth, leaf area and biochemical characters of grape saplings. Three vegetative bud stages viz. bud initiation stage, 4-leaf stage and 8-leaf stage, and four doses of gamma irradiation viz. 0, 5, 10, and 15 Gy were used as treatments. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. Different irradiation doses and vegetative bud stages showed significant variations in respect of plant growth characters, leaf area, soluble protein and total sugar content. Interaction effects also had significant variations on most of the parameters studied. Higher doses of gamma irradiation had showed detrimental effect on grape saplings. Generally, increased in irradiation doses showed decreased and detrimental effects on most of the parameters under study. Maximum numbers and length of roots, total dry matter, leaf area and chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b content were found at 5 Gy irradiation dose. Total soluble protein and sugar content of leaf were found maximum at no irradiation and 15 Gy, respectively. Higher number of roots and length, total dry matter, leaf area, chlorophyll-a, and b and soluble protein content of leaf were observed at bud initiation stage while 8-leaf stage showed maximum total sugar of leaf. In the combined effect of gamma irradiation and vegetative bud stages, all parameters showed best results in 5 Gy with bud initiation stage except total sugar content of leaf.

Site Suitability Analysis for Dissemination of Salt-tolerant Rice Varieties in Southern Bangladesh

Abstract. Bangladesh is a country of 14.4 million ha geographical area and has a population density of more than 1100 persons per sq. km. Rice is the staple food crop, growing on about 72 % of the total cultivated land and continues to be the most important crop for food security of the country. A project "Sustainable Rice Seed Production and Delivery Systems for Southern Bangladesh" has been executed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in twenty southern districts of Bangladesh. These districts grow rice in about 2.9 million ha out of the country’s total rice area of 11.3 million ha. The project aims at contributing to the Government of Bangladesh’s efforts in improving national and household food security through enhanced and sustained productivity by using salinity-, submergence- and drought- tolerant and high yielding rice varieties. Out of the 20 project districts, 12 coastal districts are affected by the problem of soil salinity. The salt-affected area in Bangladesh has increased from about 0.83 million ha in 1973 to 1.02 million ha in 2000, and 1.05 million ha in 2009 due to the influence of cyclonic storms like "Sidr", "Laila" and others, leading to salt water intrusion in croplands. Three salinity-tolerant rice varieties have recently been bred by IRRI and field tested and released by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA). These varieties are BRRI dhan- 47 and Bina dhan-8 and - 10. However, they can tolerate soil salinity level up to EC 8−10 dSm−1, whereas the EC of soils in several areas are much higher. Therefore, a large scale dissemination of these varieties can be done only when a site suitability analysis of the area is carried out. The present study was taken up with the objective of preparing the site suitability of the salt-tolerant varieties for the salinity-affected districts of southern Bangladesh. Soil salinity map prepared by Soil Resources Development Institute of Bangladesh shows five classes of salinity. viz., non-saline with some very slight saline soil, very slightly saline with some slight saline soil, slightly saline with some moderately saline soil, strongly saline with some moderately saline soil, and very strongly saline with some strongly saline soil. The soil EC level of different classes range from 2 dSm−1 to >16 dSm−1. The soil map was geo-referenced and digitized using Arc GIS. Salinity tolerance characteristics of the rice varieties were matched with the soil characteristics shown on the map. Three suitability classes were made; soils suitable for salt-tolerant varieties, not suitable for salt-tolerant varieties due to high soil salinity, and suitable for other high yielding varieties due to slight salinity. The mauza (smallest revenue unit) boundary provided by the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council was also geo-referenced and digitized in the same projection. Overlaying and intersecting the mauza boundary on the soil suitability map provided the suitable and not suitable mauza. A total of 4070 mauzas in the 12 salinity-affected districts were listed and maps showing suitability of mauza prepared. About 0.6 million ha out of total 0.87 million ha salinity affected area were found suitable for growing the salinity-tolerant BRRI dhan-47, Bina dhan-8 and -10 in these districts. The maps and other generated information have helped the Dept. of Agriculture Extension (DAE) of Bangladesh in large scale dissemination of seeds of the salinity-tolerant rice varieties in different districts during the past two years.

Effect of date of transplanting on yield and yield attributing characters of aromatic fine rice in rainfed condition

A field experiment was conducted at the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) farm, Mymensingh, Bangladesh, during the rainfed season in June to December, 2011, with a view to study the performance of aromatic fine rice under different dates of transplanting. The experiment was carried out with four aromatic fine rice varieties (V1–BRRI dhan 34, V2–Ukunimadhu, V3–Basmati and V4–Kataribhog) and three different dates of transplanting (D1–30 July, D2–15 August and D3–30 August). The experiment was laid out in split-plot design with three replications assigning variety in the main plot and the three different dates of transplanting in the sub-plot. Experimental result showed that aromatic fine rice varieties and dates of transplanting individually had significant effect on the agronomic parameters. The combined effect differed significantly for all the agronomic characters. The highest grain yield (3.11 t/ha) was obtained in Kataribhog, which was similar to Basmati (2.75 t/ha) followed by Ukunimadhu. The highest grain yield obtained in 15 August date of transplanting (2.93 t/ha) was identical to 30 July date of transplanting (2.88 t/ha). Combined effect showed that transplanting on 30 July and 15 August produced highest grain yield by all the varieties. In later date transplanting 30 August, production of grain yield decreased. Kataribhog, Basmati and Ukunimadhu with dates of transplanting 30 July and 15 August can be suggested in rainfed condition of Bangladesh.