Improving Agricultural Productivity in Rice-Based Systems of the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh Edited by C.R. Riches, D. Harris, D.E. Johnson, and B. Hardy 2008 The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was established in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations with the help and approval of the Government of the Philippines. Today, IRRI is one of the 15 nonprofit international research centers supported by the Consultative Group on In- ternational Agricultural Research (CGIAR – www.cgiar.org). 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Rice Knowledge Bank: www.knowledgebank.irri.org Courier address: Suite 1009, Security Bank Center 6776 Ayala Avenue, Makati City, Philippines Tel. +63 (2) 891-1236, 891-1174, 891-1258, 891-1303 Suggested Citation: Edited by C.R. Riches, D. Harris, D.E. Johnson, and B. Hardy. 2008. Improving Agricultural Productivity in Rice-Based Systems of the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 215 p. Cover design: Juan Lazaro IV Page makeup and composition: George R. Reyes Figures and illustrations: George R. Reyes ISBN 978-971-22-0229-2 Contents Foreword v Acknowledgments vii Setting the Scene The High Barind Tract: a challenging drought-prone 3 agricultural environment C.R. Riches Workshop synthesis Farm-level opportunities for increasing productivity and income 9 in the High Barind Tract: a synthesis A. Orr, C.R. Riches, A.M. Mortimer, D. Harris, and M.A. Mazid Discussions and recommendations 25 Opportunities for improving rice production in the High Barind Tract Developments in direct seeding of rainfed rice in the 33 High Barind Tract M.A. Mazid, B. Khamarker, A.M. Mortimer, and C.R Riches Direct-seeded rice in the High Barind Tract: economics 47 and farmer evaluation M.A. Jabbar, A. Orr, and B. Karmakar Long-term sustainability in weed management for direct 67 seeding of rainfed rice A.M. Mortimer, M.A. Mazid, and C.R. Riches iii Bangladeshi experiences with a drum seeder for direct 79 wet seeding of rice M.M. Husain, M.A. Islam, and M. Rashid Improved weed management for transplanted aman rice 91 C.R. Riches, M.A. Mazid, G.J. Uddin Ahmed, A.M. Mortimer, M.A. Jabbar, and A. Orr Identifying varieties for the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh 105 with farmers K.D. Joshi, A.M. Musa, C. Johansen, D. Harris, K.P. Devkota, S. Gyawali and J.R. Witcombe Opportunities for improving rabi crop production in the High Barind Tract Farmer-friendly technologies to improve chickpea production 119 in the High Barind Tract D. Harris, C. Johansen, and A.M. Musa Integration of chickpea and other rabi crops into rainfed 135 rice-based systems of the High Barind Tract C. Johansen, A.M. Musa, D. Harris, M. Shafiqul Islam, and M. Omar Ali Developing seed systems for dissemination of chickpea 147 and rice lines appropriate to the High Barind Tract A.M. Musa, K.D. Joshi, and C. Johansen Decision-making for rabi cropping in the High Barind Tract 157 of Bangladesh: a farmer perspective A. Orr, M.A. Jabbar, M.A. Mazid, and B. Karmakar Formulation and dissemination of improved cropping system 175 packages for the High Barind Tract M.A. Salam, A.M. Musa, and C. Johansen Experiences from the region Extending rabi cropping in rice fallows of eastern India 193 J.V.D.K. Kumar Rao, D. Harris, M. Kankal, and B. Gupta Direct seeding of rice and opportunities for improving 201 productivity in Asia D.E. Johnson, S.M. Haefele, A.L. Rathore, P. Romyen, and H. Pane iv Foreword The High Barind Tract of northwest Bangladesh is an area of low and erratic rainfall with limited irrigation potential. Farmers there largely rely on rainfed cropping but face problems of late transplanting of aman-season rice when the monsoon is de- layed or low yields when drought sets in during the booting stage of the rice crop in October. It is also important in this area to harvest rice early to provide food during the monga season, a hungry period before the harvest of the main monsoon aman rice crop, and to ensure that winter rabi crops can be planted on time to take advan- tage of residual soil moisture. Farmers are operating in a time of rapid change, with increasing input costs and emerging labor shortages. It has therefore been a priority to identify agricultural practices for the Barind that allow increased production in a marginal rainfall environment while at the same time improving the efficiency with which inputs, particularly labor, are used. To ensure that farmers have a productive aman rice and rabi system, research efforts have for some years focused on developing early-maturing drought-tolerant aman rice cultivars and high-yielding disease-resistant rabi crops such as chickpea. However, farmers also need good practical advice on the best practices for timely establishment of vigorous and weed-free crops to make best use of the short rainy season. Over the past six years, with support from the United Kingdom Department for International Development, farmers, extension workers, and researchers from the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, International Rice Research Institute, and universities from the UK have worked in partnership to develop cost-effective ways of increasing the productivity of both rice and rabi crops in the High Barind Tract. The improved practices that have been validated by farmers are knowledge-intensive. New sources of information such as posters, leaflets, and other training materials have been produced. The challenge now is to make this information widely available to farmers in the Barind so that the reli- ability and productivity of agriculture in this marginal cropping area and food security and income from agriculture can be increased. IRRI, together with the Crop Protection Programme and Plant Sciences Research Programme of DFID, organized a workshop on “Improving agricultural productivity in rice-based systems of the High Barind Tract,” held 4-5 March 2006 in Dhaka, Bangla- v desh. The workshop brought together more than 70 extension workers, scientists, and policymakers to discuss the application of validated technologies to the High Barind Tract and similar drought-prone environments in Bangladesh and to identify opportuni- ties and requirements for enhancing the scaling-up of these technologies in extension programs. The Barind environment continues northwest across the border into India so researchers from India contributed to the workshop to ensure the sharing of experiences of technology development for this highly variable rainfed environment. ROBERT S. ZEIGLER MD. NUR-E-ELAHI Director General Director General International Rice Research Institute Bangladesh Rice Research Institute vi Acknowledgments IRRI is most grateful to the Crop Protection Programme and the Plant Sciences Re- search Programme of the United Kingdom Department for International Development for funding the workshop and financially contributing to the publication of this book. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID. Many people contributed to the success of the workshop upon which it is based. The local organizing committee from the IRRI-Dhaka Office was led by Dr. Hamid Miah. vii Setting the scene The High Barind Tract: a challenging drought-prone agricultural environment C.R. Riches The Barind Tract is a distinctive physiographic unit comprising a series of uplifted blocks of terraced land covering 8,720 km2 in northwestern Bangladesh between the floodplains of the Padma (known as the Ganges in India) and the Jamuna rivers (the main channel of the lower Brahmaputra). Spread over parts of the greater districts of Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangpur, and Bogra of Bangladesh, and Maldah District of West Bengal in India, the Barind includes 773,000 ha in Bangladesh, of which 532,000 ha are cultivable. Rainfall is comparatively low in this region, with the long-term average being about 1,250 mm in the west and 2,000 mm in the northeast, occurring mainly from late April to October. With a variable rainfall and temperature ranging from 25 to 35 °C (regularly exceeding 40 °C) in the monsoon season, the area is considered semiarid and drought-prone. The aman rice1 (monsoon)-growing season ranges from 180 days in the west to 220 days in the northeast but the frequency of dry periods, particularly in July and August, is the highest in the country.