Tillage and mulch effects on soil environment, growth and yield of rainfed barley

Abstract

Abstract : Field experiments were conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Jessore during two consecutive winter seasons of 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 to evaluate the tillage and mulching effects on soil moisture conservation, growth and yield of rainlcd barley. Three tillage methods viz., minimum, reduced and conventional tillage and three mulch materials namely rice straw, water hyacinth and black polythene including no mulch were used as treatment variables. Tillage technique and mulch materials did not interact significantly to any parameters of barley. It was observed that moisture conservation was higher in unfilled and minimum tilled soil. Conversely, black polythene and straw mulch conserved more soil moisture and favoured better growth of barley crop. Tillage practice significantly influenced the yield and yield components of barley. Conventional tillage produced the highest grain yield (1483 kg ha'1) and the lowest yield (1116 kg ha'1) was obtained from minimum tillage. Among the mulch materials, black polythene increased barley grain yield by 41% over no mulch. Two years result revealed that black polythene or rice straw mulch accompanied by either reduced or conventional tillage might be an efficient practice to conserve better soil moisture and higher yield of barley under rainfed condition.