Effect of mulching and organic manure on growth and yield performance of wheat

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh in Rabi season (dry season) of 2014 to study the effect of mulching and organic manure on growth and yield performance of wheat. Five mulching practices viz. M₁=1 irrigation at 17-21 days after sowing (DAS), M₂=2 irrigations at 17-21 and 55-60 DAS, M₃=3 irrigations at 17-21, 55-60 and 75-80 DAS, M₄=control, M₅=straw mulch (6 t ha^-1) and five organic manure managements viz. O₁=recommended chemical fertilizer (NPKS @ 100-23-20-16 kg ha^-1), O₂=poultry manure @ 6 t ha^-1 (100% PM), O₃=vermicompost @ 8 t ha^-1 (100% VC), O₄=50% chemical fertilizer+50% VC and O₅=50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM were used as experimental variables. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three replications. The results showed that mulching had significant influence on all attributes. The highest values of all attributes were found in straw mulch treatment. It was observed that organic manure had significant influences on all characters. The highest values of yield and yield attributes were found in O₅ (50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM) treatment. It was observed that effective tillers hill^-1, grain yield and straw yield were significantly affected by combined effect of mulching and organic manure. The highest values obtained from mulching and O₅ (50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM) treatment. Therefore, it can be inferred from the results of the study that highest production could be obtained from mulching and O₅ (50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM) treatment.