| dc.description | Bangladesh is an agrarian country and agriculture is the driving force
for her economic growth (Anon, 2007). Although the share of this
sector to its GDP has been decreasing over the last few years due to the
multifold expansion. of the export oriented garment sector. Yet it
dominates the economy accommodating lion share of the labor force
living in rural areas. More than 84% of the population are living in the
rural areas this or that way dependent on this profession for their
livelihoods (MoA, 2007). The economy of the domain is burdened with
her increasing population. Note that the present growth rate is 1.5%
(BBS, 2006) in the realm. This territory is one of the largest deltas of
the world with a total area of 147570 square kilometer. About 1045
persons live here. per square kilometer (CIA, 2007) leading it the
densest populated country of the planet. This expanding population is
exerting immense pressure on the usable land and ultimately reducing
per capita available land in an alarming rate. This availability has been
declined from 0.19 in 1961 to 0.101 ha in 1992 (Iqbal et al., 2002) and
now the country is claimed to have the lowest per capita arable land of
0.06 hectares. Most of the area of the country is floodplain, covering
about 80% of her total land, the rest 20% constitute hills and raised
terraces (Abedin et al, 1991). Floodplain and terraces are the major
ecosystem of Bangladesh in terms of traditional farm land agroforestry
systems (Miah et al., 2002). | en_US |
| dc.description.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. | en_US |
