AGRO-ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF GIMA KALMI UNDER GHORA NEEM AND IPIL-IPIL BASED AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Agroforestry Research Farm of the Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur during the period from 5" April to 20" May, 2009 to investigate the canopy shade effect of ghora neem and ipil-ipil trees, different levels of fertilizer and plant densities on the growth and yield of Gima Kalmi (Jpomoea reptans). There were three canopy orientations viz., no canopy, ghora neem canopy (Melia azedarach) and ipil-ipil canopy (Leucaena leucocephala), four levels of fertilizer viz. no fertilizer, recommended fertilizer, 20% and 40% less than the recommended fertilizer, three levels of plant density viz., 30 cm x 15 cm, 30 cm x 25 cm and 30 cm x 30 cm as treatments of the experiment. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Performance of Gima Kalmi grown under no canopy, ghora neem canopy and ipil-ipil canopy were evaluated. The plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, fresh weight of foliage per plant, yield per plot and yield per hectare grown under ghora neem and ipil-ipil canopy showed significantly reduction than those grown in no canopy. The ranked order of different canopy shade for better performance were no canopy > ghora neem canopy > ipil-ipil canopy. In combined effects of different canopies and different levels of fertilizer the highest plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, fresh weight foliage per plant, yield per plot were 28.89 cm, 78.79, 11.59, 87.79 g were found in no canopy with recommended fertilizers. The combined effects of different canopy and different plant densities on the growth and yield of Gima Kalmi did not show any remarkable variation among the parameters. The combined effects of different plant densities and different levels of fertilizer showed significant variation on the growth and yield of Gima Kalmi. The highest plant height (25.30 cm), number of leaves per plant (68.17), number of branches per plant (10.02), fresh weight foliage per plant (72.04 g) were recorded in 30 cm x 15 cm with recommended fertilizers. The combined effects of different canopy shade, plant densities and different levels of fertilizer resulted statistically significant on the growth and yield of Gima kalmi. The highest plant height (30.10 cm), number of leaves per plant (78.80), number of branches per plant (12.90) were found in recommended fertilizers, 30 cm x 30 cm plant density in open condition i.e. no canopy. The yield per plot and yield per hectare (1.26 kg and 12.60 t) were recorded in recommended fertilizers with 30 cm x 15 cm plant density in open condition i.e. no canopy, respectively. In terms of benefit-cost ratio, the highest benefit-cost ratio (4.28) was recorded from ghora neem + Gima Kalmi based agroforestry system followed by ipil-ipil + Gima Kalmi based agroforestry system than in sole cropping (no canopy, open field condition). So, Gima Kalmi can profitably be cultivated in ghora neem based agroforestry systems.