No abstract

An experiment was conducted at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur during April 2013 to June 2013 to study the effect of three storage containers (tin container, polythene bag and cloth bag); and five storage periods (0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 days) on the seed quality of soybean. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications. The soybean seeds stored in tin container showed maximum germination capacity with high germination index, highest seedling growth, seedling dry weight per plant and vigour index. The seeds stored in cloth bag had the lowest seed quality during the testing period. The highest 1000-seed weight, moisture content, electrical conductivity, abnormal seedlings and number of dead seeds were recorded in cloth bag; where the equivalent lowest values were recorded in tin container. The moisture content, 1000-seed weight, electrical conductivity, number of abnormal seedlings and dead seeds were increased with the longer period of storage. In addition, germination index, seedling growth, dry weight per plant of soybean seedling, and vigor index decreased with the increase in storage period. Among the three containers, tin container was the best and the cloth bag was the worst storage container for soybean seed storage for long period.

Rice production in the tidal floodplain of southern Bangladesh is constrained by uncontrolled water. In absence of high yielding varieties suitable for tidal floodplain, farmers grow low yielding indigenous cultivars of tall plant type. This paper reports the effect of agronomic management on the yield and yield components of an indigenous rice cultivar, Sadamota. The trial was conducted in 10 farmers' plots located widely apart in two upazila (sub-districts)-Jhalakati and Rajapur. 45 d and 60 d old seedlings were transplanted either in rows at 40 cm × 20 cm spacing or following farmers' traditional practice of random planting. Transplanting 60 d old seedlings produced 14% higher yield compared with 45 d old seedlings. Transplanting in rows also increased grain yield by 12%. The yield increase was associated with hill density, the number of effective tillers per hill and the number of spikelets per panicle.

The pot experiment was conducted to assess the effect of organic amendments to improve leaf chlorophyll and water content as well as mineral ions accumulation in BARI soybean 5 under saline condition. Two types of organic amendments i. water hyacinth compost ii. rice husk biochar were mixed in soil at 5 tha-1 and 10 tha-1 of both. Irrigation was done with 50 and 100 mM saline solution from 14 th days after sowing (DAS) to maturity, where control plants were irrigated with tap water. Data on chlorophyll content, exudation rate, relative water content (RWC), water retention capacity (WRC) in leaf were measured at flowering stage as well as Na, K, Ca, Mg and Na: K ratio in leaf and stem were also recorded at harvest. Results revealed that salinity decreased chlorophyll content, exudation rate, relative water content, water retention capacity and K, Ca, Mg content in leaf and stem of soybean plant. Water hyacinth compost and rice husk biochar had positive effects to mitigate negative effects of salinity on soybean plant. However, rice husk biochar at 5 tha-1 showed best result to mitigate salinity stress on soybean at low salinity (50 mM) condition.

The experiment was conducted at the experimental site of Agronomy Department, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Salna, Gazipur during the period from January to June 2011 to evaluate twenty selected soybean genotypes in respect of growth, dry matter production and yield. Genotypic variations in plant height, leaf area index, dry matter and its distribution, crop growth rate and seed yield were observed. The plant height ranged from 40.33 to 63.17 cm, leaf area index varied from 3.01 to 8.13 at 75 days after emergence, total dry matter ranged from 12.25 to 24.71 g per plant at 90 days after emergence (DAE). The seed yield ranged from 1745 to 3640 kg per hectare. The genotypes BGM 02093, BD 2329, BD 2340, BD 2336, Galarsum, BD 2331 and G00015 yielded 3825, 3447, 3573, 3737, 3115, 3542 and 3762 kg per hectare, respectively and gave higher than others contributed by higher crop growth rate with maximum number of filled pods. Seed yield of soybean was positively related to total dry matter at 45 DAE (Y = 632.19 + 659.31X, R2= 0.46) and 60 DAE (Y= 95.335 + 405.53X, R2 = 0.48). The filled pods per plant had good relationship with seed yield (Y = 1397 + 41.85X, R2 = 0.41) than other components.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 40(3): 333-345, September 2015