PERFORMANCE OF OKRA IN ASSOCIATION WITH DIFFERENT MULTIPURPOSE TREE BASED AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
Date
2014-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
HAJEE MOHAMMOD DANESH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY, DINAJPUR
Abstract
A field experiment was carried out at the Agroforestry and Environment Research
Farm, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU),
Dinajpur during April to July 2013 to evaluate the performance of okra cv.
Anamika under Arjun, Horitoki, Kalo koroi, and Ipil-ipil based agroforestry
systems along with sole cropping i.e. open field condition. The experiment was laid
out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Plant
height increased gradually with the advancement of time up to the maximum
vegetative growth stage (60 DAS) and then the plant height slowly decreased in all
treatments. At the 30, 60 and 90 DAS the plant height was found height in Okra +
Kalo koroi based agroforestry production system as well as Okra + Ipil-ipil based
agroforestry production system and the lowest plant height were recorded in Okra
in sole cropping production system. But in case of number of leaves plant” and also
leaf length and leaf breadth were found highest in Okra production in sole cropping
production system. On the other hand the lowest number of leaves plant” and also
leaf length and leaf breadth were observed in Okra + Arjun based agroforestry
production system as well as Okrat+ Horitoki based agroforestry production system.
Significantly the highest number of fruit plant’ 8.09, fruit length 13.37cm and fruit
girth 7.01 cm were found in Okra sole cropping production system. On the other
hand, the lowest number of fruit plant” 5.73, fruit length 10.05cm and fruit girth
5.71 cm were found in Okra +Horitoki based agroforestry system (AFS). Finally
the highest fruit weight plant”! (153.61 g) and fruit yield 10.15 tha’' were found in
Okra in sole cropping production system and lowest fruit weight plant’ 119.87 g
and fruit yield 7.33 tha! were recorded in Okra +Horitoki based agroforestry
production system. The results of this experiment clearly indicated that the choice
of species of tree and okra for multipurpose tree based agroforestry production
system is very significant.
Description
Bangladesh is a small country with an area of 147,570 km”. It is a thickly populated
country. According to the latest census of 2011, the population of the country was
142.3 million. With the population growth rate of 1.34%, the present population
stands as 155 million. Thus, the population density is around 964/km2. The population
has doubled in the last 30 years and 964 persons are living per square kilometer at
present. The country has only a land area of 14.39 million hectares, but to the evergrowing population per capita land area is decreasing at an alarming rate of 0.005
ha/capita/year since 1989 (Hossain and Bari, 1996). As a result, there is a tremendous
pressure on the natural resources of the country. Consequently, poverty has become a
serious issue. Naturally, there is a crying demand for wood for the swelling
population. Considering the two dominant development paths-rapid economic growth
through industrialization and agriculture, forests are continuously depleted at an
alarming rate. This put heavy pressure on land for human habitation and crop
production. About 31.60% of the gross domestic product of Bangladesh is contributed
from agriculture. Of the total agricultural product about 22.80% comes from various
crops, 3.2% from livestock, 3.27 from fishes and 2.32% from forests (BBS, 2006).
Keywords
AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM, Intercultural operations, Statistical analysis, Collection of data