BCR for Seed and Fibre Production with Seed and Cutting Treatments at Different Sowing Methods at JAES and KRS, BJRI in O-9897 Variety

Line sowing method had less cost of seed production and more BCR than top cutting method. In case of line sowing, for seed production maximum BCR 1.30 was observed with BAUBiofungicide treated seeds and lowest BCR 1.16 under control treatment. For fibre production, highest BCR 2.71 was observed with BAUBiofungicide treated seeds and lowest BCR 1.29 was under control treatment. In case of top cutting, highest BCR 1.13 was recorded under BAUBiofungicide treated cuttings and lowest 1.02 was under control treatment. So, line sowing method was found most suitable compared to top cutting method for production of quality healthy jute seeds with maximum BCR. Keyword BCR, Seed Treatment, Cutting Treatment, Sowing Method, Seed Yield and Fibre Yield, O-9897


Introduction
Jute is one of the major cash crops of Bangladesh. Its influence on ecology and economy is so intimate that the effects are significantly related to the agro-ecology and the socio-economic life of the people. The jute crop also greatly improves the soil fertility status by incorporating organic matter to the soil through decomposition of shaded leaves and plant residues and helps in breaking plough-pans through its long taproots. Also, jute and jute goods have been recognized as being friendly to the environment. Jute is mostly grown in the Indo-Bangladesh region and in some countries of Southeast Asia. Among the jute growing countries of the world, Bangladesh was second position in respect of production (7). The land and climatic conditions of Bangladesh are congenial for the production of high quality jute. In Bangladesh, about 0.709 million hectares of land was under jute cultivation and the total yield was 8.40 million bales (1,2). Bangladesh annually needs about 4000 metric tons of jute seeds of which only 12-15% is produced and supplied by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) (10). The rest of the seeds, about 85% or more of the requirement, are produced and managed by farmers' (5). Seed is the basic input for crop production. Quality seed of a variety is the key to better crop establishment and better yield. The conventional method of jute seed production is not enough at all to meet the demand of the farmer. Jute in Bangladesh is not grown for seed purpose as it requires long time from March-December and this hampers cultivation of transplant amon rice and rabi crops. The farmers usually keep a small portion of crop at one corner or any suitable place of the field to produce seed and rest of the crop is harvested for fibre. This traditional system of seed production is characterized by low yield and poor quality seed. So, for highest seed production farmers' top cutting method, at present BADC is the only public sector producing certified jute seed in their own firm as well as through contract growers. BADC can not meet up more than 10% of the total requirement. To overcome the situation to some extend since last 5-6 years BJRI has been supplying 100 gm of quality seed to individual farmer, free of cost through Agricultural Extension Directorate to produce jute seed in late sowing method and to promote the exchange of seed among the farmers. For this approach BJRI annually is distributing 300-400 kg of quality jute seed to the farmers.

Experimental Sites and Period
The experiments were conducted in the field of Jute Agriculture Experimental Station (JAES), Manikgonj and Kishoregonj Regional Station (KRS), Kishoregonj of BJRI. The experiments were conducted during the period April 2012 to January 2013.

Application of Fertilizers
During final land preparation Urea 60 kg, Triple Super Phosphate 50 kg and Muriate of Potash 25 kg per hectare were applied (8 and 9). After 15-20 days of seed germination first top dressing with the urea @ 60 kg and again another 15 days later of first top dressing, the 2 nd top dressing was given with 60 kg per hectare. Top dressing of urea was done very carefully so that it will not come in contact with the plant parts. To meet sulphur and zinc deficiency, gypsum and zinc oxide @ 45 kg and 5 kg per hectare were applied (8 and 9).

Experimental Design
The experiments were conducted following Randomized Block Design (RCBD) having three replications. The size of the unit plot was 10m 2 (5m x 2m) and the distance between plots and replications were 1.0 m and 1.0 m, respectively.

Soil Characteristics and Nutrient Status
The Soil characteristics and nutrient status of the two experimental stations (JAES, Manikgonj and KRS, Kishoregonj) are shown in Table 1.

BCR for Seed Production with Line Sowing and Top Cutting Methods
Benefit Cost Ratio of line sowing and top cutting were calculated for production of quality healthy jute seeds to determine the economically most suitable method. The Benefit Cost Ratio was determined by using the finding of the study that conducted at Jute Agriculture Experimental Station (JAES), Manikgonj, and Kishoregonj Regional Station (KRS), BJRI. Different operational costs required for plowing, laddering, thinning, fertilizer applications, harvesting, hoeing, top cutting, leaf tearing, cutting plantation, gap filling, threshing, winnowing and drying of seeds for production of seeds/ hectare of land were calculated for both capsularis and olitorius based on present market price (Tables 2 and 3). A comparative study on cost and return among these seed production methods were done using the variables-Cost, Gross Benefit, Net Return and Benefit Cost Ratio.

Cost (Variable)
Variable cost is equal to total cost minus fixed cost (Dillon and Hardaker, 1993)

Gross Benefit (GB)
Gross Benefit of seed yield was calculated by multiplying the amount of seed yield by the corresponding market price (11).

Net Return (NR)
The Net Return was achieved by deducting the variable expenses from the Gross Benefit. Total cost (only variable cost) was deducted from the gross income of seed yield (3) Grand total cost of production seed/ha at direct (line sowing) sowing method = 28980.00+ 7348.00 = 36328.00 Grand total cost of production fibre/ha at direct (line sowing) sowing method = 30780.00 + 7348.00 = 38128.00 There are three top cutting are produced from 1 plant Therefore, cost of production of mother plant for one hectare of land = 17640.00 + 7608.00 = 25248.00

Sl
Operations Requirement/ha Total cost (Tk) Total cost of production for top cutting preparation and transplantation = 41940.00 + 3635.00 = 45575.00 Grand total cost of production of seeds/ha through top cutting method = 25248.00 +45575.00 = 70683.00

BCR for Seed Production with Seed Treatments and Cuttings Treatments
Different seed treatments for production of quality healthy jute seeds were based for BCR determination. Cost required f or seed treatment with vitavax-200 and BAU-Bio fungicide for production of seed per hectare were calculated based on market price (Tables 4-5).

Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)
The Benefit Cost Ratio was obtained through gross benefit divided by the total cost using the following formula (2)

Seed Production
The highest seed yield (585.65 kg/ha) was recorded in JAES followed by KRS (569.02 kg/ha) with top cutting method ( Table 6). The lowest seed yield (344.50 kg/ha) was recorded in JAES with line sowing method. But BCR was maximum (1.27) in KRS produced with line sowing method followed by JAES (1.23).

Seed Production
In this study, seeds were produced with different seed treatments. Maximum seed yield (369.33 kg/ha) was recorded in KRS using BAU-Biofungicide treated seeds ( Table 8). The lowest seed yield (325.52 kg/ha) was recorded in JAES produced with control treatment. BCR was maximum (1.30) in KRS using BAU-Biofungicide treated seeds while minimum BCR at JAES (1.16) was calculated with control treatment.

Fibre Production
The highest fibre yield (4.53 ton/ha) was recorded in JAES with BAU-Biofungicide treated seeds. The lowest fibre yield (2.25 ton/ha) was recorded in KRS using control treatment. BCR was maximum (2.71) in JAES using BAU-Biofungicide treated seeds while the lowest BCR at KRS (1.29) was calculated with control treatment (Table 9).

Top Cutting
The highest seed yield (618.76 kg/ha) was recorded in JAES using BAU-Biofungicide treated cuttings. The lowest seed yield (534.15 kg/ha) was recorded in control treatment at KRS. BCR was maximum (1.13) in JAES using BAU-Biofungicide treated cuttings while the lowest BCR at JAES and KRS (1.02) was calculated with control treatment (Table  10). It was evident from the findings that BAU-Biofungicide treated seeds and cuttings produced maximum BCR for seed and fibre production.

Discussion
Line sowing method had less cost of seed production than top cutting method and encountered with more Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) than top cutting method. Therefore, it could be concluded that line sowing method was found most suitable in terms of BCR to produce quality healthy jute seeds and fibre production with minimum cost and maximum return. In case of line sowing, for seed production maximum BCR 1.30 was recorded with BAU-Biofungicide treated seeds. The lowest BCR 1.16 was found in control treatment. For fibre production, highest BCR 2.71 was recorded with BAU-Biofungicide treated seeds, while the lowest BCR 1.29 was in control treatment. In case of top cutting, highest BCR 1.13 was recorded in BAU-Biofungicide treated cuttings and lowest 1.19 was recorded in control treatment. The findings indicated that BAU-Biofungicide could be used successfully for treating seeds and cuttings. It may be conceived from the present findings that use of seed treatment and cuttings treatment by BAU-Biofungicide in line sowing and top cutting methods produce high quality jute seeds with higher seed yield and highest BCR than that of jute seeds production by other treatments.

Conclusions
For quality seed and fibre production with maximum BCR from the findings of this study:  Line sowing method was found most suitable compared to top cutting method for production of quality healthy jute seeds with maximum BCR.