Effect of agroforest tree leaf biomass on yield and yield contributing characters of wheat cv. Akbar

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Agroforestry Farm of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during November 2017 to March 2018 to evaluate the effects of agroforest tree leaf biomasses on yield and yield contributing characters of wheat cv. Akbar. Eight different treatments viz. T₁= Ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) tree leaf biomass, T₂ = Minjiri (Cassia siamea) tree leaf biomass, T₃ = Kalokoroi (Albizia lebbeck) tree leaf biomass, T₄ = Sadakoroi (Albizia procera) tree leaf biomass, T₅ = Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) tree leaf biomass, T₆ = Akashmoni (Acacia auriculiformis) tree leaf biomass, T₇ = Mahogoni (Swietenia macrophylla) tree leaf biomass were used along with a recommended fertilizer dose referred as control (T₀) in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The results reveal that tree leaf biomasses significantly influenced the yield and yield contributing characters viz. plant height (cm), effective tillers/hill, spike length (cm), number of spikelets/spike, number of filled grains/spike, number of non-filled grains/spike, 1000-grain weight (g), grain yield (t/ha), straw yield (t/ha), biological yield (t/ha) and harvest index of wheat. The highest (2.83 t/ha) grain yield was recorded in the recommended fertilizer dose. Among the tree leaf biomasses, ipil-ipil tree leaf biomass produced the highest (2.47 t/ha) grain yield which was 12.71% decrease over control followed by 2.36, 2.21, 2.02, 1.89, 1.84 and 1.77 t/ha obtained in minjiri, sadakoroi, kalokoroi, eucalyptus, akashmoni and mahogany tree leaf biomass, respectively. However, it seems that the ipil-ipil tree leaf biomass would be possible to substitute of or apply in combination with inorganic fertilizer although there was some yield loss (12.71%) which was less significant compared to recommended fertilizer treatment. Therefore, it can be elucidated that for wheat production tree leaf biomass could use as a source of organic matter which is available in the agroforestry system, significantly reduces the considerable amount of chemical fertilizer.

Progressive Agriculture 30 (1): 32-38, 2019