The study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the popular isoflavone-rich soybean 'agakong' in upland and in drained-paddy fields. Analysis revealed no significant variation in terms of plant height, number of seeds per pod, number of nodes, and 100-seed weight between the two cropping system. Number of pods was significantly higher in paddy field(234.2kg 10a-1) compared to those harvested in the upland field, which was later manifested on the yield where paddy soybeans obtained 278.1kg 10a-1 whereas upland only obtained 179.3kg 10a-1. This observed difference in yield was attributed to the observed higher amount of N in the paddy soil (0.907%) as compared to the upland soil (0.458%). In terms of nutritional content, protein and phytic acid contents were the only parameters that showed significant differences while oil, sugar, reducing power and fatty acids were all comparable in paddy and filed condition. Protein content was higher in upland soil (47.4%) than that of the paddy (44.9%) soil. On the opposite, phytic acid was higher in paddy (2.90%) than in upland (1.09%). This study showed that the yield of soybean is generally a factor of soil N, drained-paddy field production of soybean is comparable to upland-filed production with the benefit of increasing phytic acid content while maintaining its nutritional value.

The effects of Rhizobium inoculant, compost, and nitrogen on nodulation, growth, dry matter production, yield attributes, and yield of pea (Pisum sativum) var, IPSA Motorshuti-3 were assessed by a field experiment. Among the treatments Rhizobium inoculant alone performed best in recording number and dry weight of nodules/plant. The highest green seed yield of 8.38 ton/ha (36.9% increase over control) and mature seed yield of 2.97 ton/ha (73.7% increase over control) were obtained by the application of 90 kg N/ha. The effects of 60 kg N/ha, Rhizobium inoculant alone and Rhizobium inoculant along with 5 ton compost/ha were same as the effect of 90 kg N/ha in recording plant height, root length, dry weight of shoot, and root both at preflowering and pod filling stages, number of mature pods/plant, number of mature seeds/pod, 1000-seed weight, green, and mature seed yields of pea.

The response of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to dual inoculation with Rhizobium (R) and arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) was studied on spore abundance and colonization of AM, nodulation, growth, yield attributes and yield. In all the parameters of the crop the performance of Rhizobium inoculant alone was superior to control. Dual inoculation with Rhizobium and AM in presence of P performed the best in recording number of spore 100g-1 rhizosphere soil and root colonization, number and dry weight of nodule, dry weights of shoot and root, number of pod plant-1 , number of seed pod-1 , seed and stover yields of chickpea. The maximum seed yield of 3.33 g plant-1 was obtained by inoculating chickpea plants with Rhizobium and AM in association with P. From the view point of nodulation, growth, yield attributes and yield of chickpea, dual inoculation with Rhizobium and AM along with P was considered to be the balanced combination of nutrients for achieving the highest output from cultivation of chickpea in Shallow Red Brown Terrace Soil of Bangladesh.

Germination and early elongation of rice after germination were investigated in anoxic air treatment, nitric oxide gas treatment, and six concentrations of mercuric chloride solutions to determine the effects of limited oxygen environment, nitric oxide, and inhibited water flux through cell membrane in 17~circC . Anoxic air treatment affected germination of tested six varieties very little. However root elongation rates were severely inhibited while shoot growth was affected less. Reductions in shoot and root elongations demonstrated genotypic variations. Nitric oxide delayed the germination of rice even though it didn't affect the final percent germination. Elongations of root and shoot were inhibited in nitric oxide treatment. The inhibitor effect of nitric oxide on the shoot elongation of rice was less severe, while nitric oxide completely inhibited the root emergence of rice. Concentrations of HgCl2 greater than 300~muM dramatically reduced the rate and percentage of germination when compared to distilled water treatment. The reduced percent germination showed the greatest variation among rice varieties in 500~muM solution of mercuric chloride. Ansanbyeo, Jinheung, and Odaebyeo were affected less by HgCl2 , Nonganbyeo and Sangmibyeo were intermediate, and the germination of Andabyeo was greatly reduced by HgCl2 . Root elongation of germinated rice seedlings was more sensitive to oxygen deficits, nitric oxide, and HgCl2 treatments than germination and shoot elongation. In conclusion, poor seedling establishment of rice sown in flooded paddy soils, in which the oxygen supply to the seeds is restricted, appears to the result of limited root elongation rate.

The effect of biofertilizer (compound of microbial inoculants or groups of micro-organisms) on growth and yield of rice was investigated. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications and 7 treatments namely: RF=N-P2O5-K2O (11-5.5-4.8 kg 10a-1 ); half of the recommended fertilizer rate, HRF=N-P2O5-K2O (5.5-2.75-2.4 kg 10a-1 ); HRF+Bio 250=HRF combined with 250 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; HRF+Bio 500=HRF combined with 500 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; Bio 250=250 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; Bio 500=500 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; and NF = No Fertilizer. Results showed that the recorded values of plant height, tiller number and chlorophyll content at 40 to 60 days after transplanting (DAT) in HRF+Bio 500 were significantly higher than those recorded in the RF treatment. Similar observations between these two treatments were only recorded from 60 DAT onwards. Yield components were also superior in HRF+Bio 500 treatment and comparable to that of RF. The highest grain yield obtained in HRF+Bio 500 treatment (785.8 kg 10a-1 ) was statistically similar to that of RF (739.8 kg 10a-1 ) but significantly higher than that of NF (506.7 kg 10a-1 ). Finally, head grain recovery (90.9) was low while chalkiness (0.03) was high at HRF+Bio 500 treatment as compared with RF, which were (96.1) and (0.3), respectively. Results showed that combined treatment of HRF and 500 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 has similar effects on the growth and yield of rice with that of RF.

The experiment was conducted at the Ban­gabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur to study the response of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) to dual inoculation of Rhizobium and arbuscular mycorrhiza, poultry litter, nitrogen, and phosphorus on spore population and colonization, nodulation, growth, yield attributes, and yield. The performance of Rhizobium inoculant alone was superior to control in all the parameters of the crop studied. Among the treatments dual inoculation of Rhizobium and arbuscular mycorrhiza in presence of poultry litter performed best in recording number and dry weight of nodules, dry weight of shoots and roots, number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, and seed yields of chickpea. The highest seed yield of 3.96g/plant was obtained by inoculating chickpea plants with dual inoculation of Rhizobium and arbuscular mycorrhiza in association with poultry litter. Treatments receiving dual inoculation of Rhizobium and arbuscular mycorrhiza in presence of nitrogen and phosphorus, Rhizobium inoculant in presence of nitrogen and phosphorus, and that of arbuscular mycorrhiza in presence of nitrogen and phosphorus were similar as that of treatment receiving dual inoculation of Rhizobium and arbuscular mycorrhiza in presence of poultry litter. From the view point of nodulation, growth, yield attributes, and yields of chickpea, dual inoculation of Rhizobium inoculant and arbuscular mycorrhiza along with poultry litter was considered to be the balanced combination of nutrients for achieving the maximum output from cultivation of chickpea in Shallow Red Brown Terrace Soil of Bangladesh.

The effects of Rhizobium inoculant, nitrogen, phosphorus, and molybdenum on nodulation, dry matter production, yield attributes, pod and seed yields, protein and phosphorus contents in seed of pea (pisum sativum) var. IPSA Motorshuti-3 were assessed by a field experiment. Among the treatments Rhizobium inoculant in combination with 25kg P and 1.5kg Mo/ha performed best in recording number of nodules/plant, total dry matter yield, number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, 1000-seed weight, green pod yield, green and mature seed yields of pea. The highest green pod yield of 15.37 t/ha (97.05~% increase over control) and green seed yield of 9.6t/ha (69.31~% increase over control) were obtained by inoculating pea with Rhizobium inoculant in association with 25kg P and 1.5 Mo/ha. The effects of 60 or 120kg N/ha were comparable to Rhizobium inoculant in most cases. There were positive correlations among yield attributes, yield, protein and phosphorus contents in seeds of pea. From the viewpoint of yield attributes, yield, and seed quality, application of Rhizobium inoculant along with 25kg P and 1.5kg Mo/ha was considered to be the balanced combination of nutrients for achieving the maximum output from cultivation of pea in Shallow-Red Brown Terrace Soil of Bangladesh.

To find out the responses of soybean genotypes in terms of different levels of irrigation with the aim of evaluating the growth, yield, and its optimum levels of irrigation, an experiment was conducted at the Field of Crop Botany Department, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from November 2000 to February 2001. Five levels of irrigation viz. ~textrmI0 : no irrigation, ~textrmI1 : one time irrigation at 20 days after sowing (DAS), ~textrmI2 :two times irrigation at 20 and 40 DAS, ~textrmI3 : three times irrigation at 20, 40, and 60 DAS, and ~textrmI4 : four times irrigation at 20, 40, 60, and 80 DAS and three genotypes of soybean viz. BS-3, BS-16, and BS-60 were used in this experiment. The crop was grown in a split plot design having three replications. The plant height, leaf area index, crop growth rate, shoot dry weight, branches ~textrmplantI-1 , filled pods ~textrmplantI-1 , seeds ~textrmplantI-1 , seed yield, and harvest index were influenced significantly by irrigation and these were found to be highest at three times irrigation except branches ~textrmplantI-1 . The chlorophyll content increased but empty pods ~textrmplantI-1 decreased with increase in irrigation levels. Genotypes of soybean varied significantly in terms of growth attributes at various growth stages except shoot dry weight at 90 DAS. The genotype BS-3 performed better compared to other genotypes and gave maximum seed yield.