A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of monochromatic light on sexual maturity, production performance, and egg quality of laying hens. A total of 144 14-week-old Hy-Line Brown chickens were reared in cages and illuminated under four different light treatment groups with three replicates (12 birds per replication, n = 12) for 14 to 60 weeks. A 60 W incandescent light bulb (IL) was used as a control, and white light (WL), blue light (BL), and red light (RL) were produced using light emitting diode lamps. The four light treatment groups each had an intensity of 20 lux. A significant delay in laying was observed when pullets were reared under BL compared to all the other light treatments. By contrast, pullets reared under RL laid significantly earlier than those under IL and BL. Hens reared under RL produced significantly higher number of eggs than those under IL and BL, and hens reared under WL produced more eggs than those under BL from 18 to 60 weeks. Feed intake was significantly increased when birds were reared under RL compared to WL and BL. The egg weight was significantly higher in BL compared to WL and RL from 41 to 50 weeks. The FCR was significantly increased when birds were reared under RL compared to other light treatments from 31 to 40 weeks and from 18 to 60 weeks. By contrast, birds reared under RL exhibited significantly increased egg shell thickness compared to birds reared under IL and BL. The ovary weight of laying pullets grown under WL was significantly higher compared to other treatments at 16 weeks of age. It is concluded that birds reared under RL matured earlier, increased egg production and egg shell thickness, but feed conversion rate was not improved under RL.

The experiment was conducted at Multi Location Testing site under On-Farm Research Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Mymensingh 2016- 17 and 2017-18 to evaluate the agro-economic performance of improved cropping pattern for increasing cropping intensity, system productivity and profitability as compared to farmers’ existing cropping pattern. The experiment was laid out randomized complete block design with six dispersed replications. Two cropping pattern viz., improved cropping pattern Garden pea (var. BARI Motorshuti-3) - Boro (var. BRRI dhan28) - T. Aman rice (var. BRRI dhan32) and farmers’ existing pattern Fallow - Boro (BRRI dhan28) - T. Aman rice (var. BRRI dhan32) as control were tested. Improved cropping pattern produced higher mean rice equivalent yield (30.26 t ha-1 yr.-1), production efficiency (74 kg ha-1 day-1 ), land utilization index (72 %) and labour employment (382 man-days ha-1 yr.-1) than farmers’ pattern which were 200, 37, 35 and 55% higher over existing pattern. Average gross return (Tk.486430 ha-1), gross margin (Tk. 284787 ha-1) and marginal benefit cost ratio (4.60) of improved pattern indicate it’s superiority over farmers’ pattern. The fertility status of soil i.e. pH, organic matter, total N, available P, S, Zn and B content in soil were increased over the initial soil due to addition of garden pea biomass. Thus, inclusion of garden pea in the existing pattern would improve soil health and system productivity as a whole. Experimental findings revealed that there is potential for greater adoption of intensified cropping systems with increased productivity and profitability as compared to rice–rice systems in Mymensingh region. Bangladesh Agron. J. 2020, 23(1): 37-46