PRODUCTION POTENTIALITY OF GIMA KALMI UNDER MANGO AND GAMARI TREE BASED AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM IN CHAR LAND

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in the char land of Gangachara Upazila under Rangpur district during July, 2019 to September, 2019 to evaluate the performance of Gima Kalmi under Mango and Gamari tree based agroforestry system influenced by different production systems and fertilizers application packages. The experiment was laid out in two factorial RCBD with 4 (four) replications. Factor A was three production systems viz. S1= Mango + Gima Kalmi, S2= Gamari + Gima Kalmi, S3= Gima Kalmi sole cropping and Factor B was four fertilizer and manure application packages viz. F0= No Fertilizer, F1= only cow-dung @ 10 t/ha, F2= only poultry manure @ 5 t/ha and F3= only chemical fertilizer as per Standard Recommendation Guide. The total numbers of experimental plots were 48. The result of the experiment revealed that plant height [30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS (Days after sowing)] as cm, number of leaves/plant (30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS), number of branches/plant (30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS), weight of fresh leaves/plant (30,45, 60 and 75 DAS) as gm, yield (30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS) as (t/ha) of Gima Kalmi significantly varied due to the different production systems and fertilizer applications when cultivated under the Mango and Gamari tree based agroforestry system in char land of Tista river basin. In case of main effects of different production systems, the maximum yield (9.08 t/ha) was recorded from Gima Kalmi sole cropping i.e. in treatment S3, whereas moderate yield (7.51 t/ha) was recorded from Mango + Gima Kalmi based agroforestry system i.e. in treatment S1. On the other hand, the minimum yield (3.82 t/ha) was recorded from Gamari + Gima Kalmi based agroforestry system i.e. in treatment S2. In case of main effects of fertilizer and manure applications, the highest yield (9.42 t/ha) was recorded from the plot where fully chemical fertilizer (F3) was applied whereas the lowest yield (3.71 t/ha) was obtained from the plot where no fertilizer (F0) was applied. Again, in case of interaction effects the maximum yield (10.54 t/ha) was recorded in the plot where Gima Kalmi was cultivated as sole cropping using only chemical fertilizer (S3F3) whereas the minimum yield (14.2 t/ha) was recorded in the plot where Gima Kalmi was cultivated at the floor of Gamari woodlot with no fertilizer (S2F0). From the economic analysis, it was found that the highest benefit-cost ratio (4.15) was recorded from Mango + Gima Kalmi based agroforestry system (S1) followed by Gamari + Gima Kalmi based agroforestry system (S2). On the other hand, the lowest benefit-cost ratio (2.93) was observed in Gima Kalmi sole cropping (S3). Finally, it may be concluded that Gima Kalmi can be cultivated successfully under newly established Mango and Gamari based agroforestry systems at the char land considering the additional returns as per investment in terms of money and time in the char land of Tista River Basin.