Intensification and diversification increase land and water productivity and profitability of rice-based cropping systems on the High Ganges River Floodplain of Bangladesh

摘要

In the High Ganges River Floodplain of Bangladesh, rice-based cropping systems with lower tillage, labor and irrigation water requirement and higher productivity and profitability are needed. To explore options for achieving this, a replicated cropping system experiment was conducted at Jessore to evaluate cropping system intensification with varying degrees of tillage and rice residue retention. Four cropping systems/establishment methods (CSE) were compared: CSE1: T.boro-T.aman (soil puddling and transplanting of both rice crops); CSE2: CTwheat-CTmungbean-T.aman (wheat and mungbean sown using a power tiller-operated seeder, PTOS, with full tillage (CT) and sowing in a single pass); CSE3: CTwheat-CTmungbean-CTDSaman (all crops sown using a PTOS with full tillage, dry seeded (DS) aman); CSE4: STwheat-STmungbean-STDSaman (all sown using a PTOS with strip tillage (ST)). Two levels of aman residue retention (removed; partial retention) were compared in sub-plots. Water was ponded on the T.boro fields from transplanting until shortly before harvest, while all aman crops were grown using safe alternate wetting and drying (AWD) water management.