Enhancing profitability, sustainability, and resilience of rice-based cropping systems by including premium quality rice and intensifying and diversifying cropping systems

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Abstract To increase the profitability and sustainability of rice-based cropping systems in Bangladesh, sustainable intensification through diversifying high-value and climate-smart crops/varieties is required. Therefore, a multi-location farmer’s participatory cropping systems trial was conducted in two consecutive years in south-west Bangladesh aimed at the profitable and sustainable cropping systems evaluation. The on-farm trial included five rice-based cropping systems such as (i) rice-fallow-rice (R-F-R), (ii) rice-mustard-rice (R-M-R), (iii) rice-lentil-mungbean (R-L-M) (iv) rice-wheat-mungbean (R-W-M) and (v) rice-relay mustard-rice (R-RM-R). The trial was conducted in 60 farmers’ fields in two adjacent districts with similar weather conditions and premium quality rice variety/es was tested in the R-M-R and R-RM-R systems. We evaluated the systems rice equivalent yield (REY), systems profitability, sustainable yield index (SYI), production and land use efficiency, and systems protein and energy outputs. The highest system REY (14.1–14.4 t ha-1) was recorded from the cropping system R-M-R which was similar to the cropping system R-RM-R in 2015/16. The R-M-R cropping systems had 20–25% higher REY than the systems R-F-R which recorded the lowest REY (11.2–11.4 t ha-1). The highest systems net return (1610–1879 USD ha-1) was recorded from the CS R-M-R; however, the highest (1.83–1.99) benefit-cost ratio was involved with CS R-L-M and it was due to lower production cost involvement with this system. The CS R-M-R had the highest SYI (0.84–0.85), followed by R-RM-R and R-L-M, and the lowest value was from R-W-M (0.75–0.77). The highest systems protein, systems energy, and systems profitability were recorded from the CS R-M-R; however, the highest land-use efficiency was recorded from the CS R-RM-R. The study revealed that planting mustard between two rice crops (premium quality varieties with short duration aman), either as a sole crop or with the relay of aman rice, is one of the most profitable options for crop intensification in rice-fallow-rice cropping systems.
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Jahangir Alam, Muhammad Khairul Alam, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5091319/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract To increase the profitability and sustainability of rice-based cropping systems in Bangladesh, sustainable intensification through diversifying high-value and climate-smart crops/varieties is required. Therefore, a multi-location farmer’s participatory cropping systems trial was conducted in two consecutive years in south-west Bangladesh aimed at the profitable and sustainable cropping systems evaluation. The on-farm trial included five rice-based cropping systems such as (i) rice-fallow-rice (R-F-R), (ii) rice-mustard-rice (R-M-R), (iii) rice-lentil-mungbean (R-L-M) (iv) rice-wheat-mungbean (R-W-M) and (v) rice-relay mustard-rice (R-RM-R). The trial was conducted in 60 farmers’ fields in two adjacent districts with similar weather conditions and premium quality rice variety/es was tested in the R-M-R and R-RM-R systems. We evaluated the systems rice equivalent yield (REY), systems profitability, sustainable yield index (SYI), production and land use efficiency, and systems protein and energy outputs. The highest system REY (14.1–14.4 t ha-1) was recorded from the cropping system R-M-R which was similar to the cropping system R-RM-R in 2015/16. The R-M-R cropping systems had 20–25% higher REY than the systems R-F-R which recorded the lowest REY (11.2–11.4 t ha-1). The highest systems net return (1610–1879 USD ha-1) was recorded from the CS R-M-R; however, the highest (1.83–1.99) benefit-cost ratio was involved with CS R-L-M and it was due to lower production cost involvement with this system. The CS R-M-R had the highest SYI (0.84–0.85), followed by R-RM-R and R-L-M, and the lowest value was from R-W-M (0.75–0.77). The highest systems protein, systems energy, and systems profitability were recorded from the CS R-M-R; however, the highest land-use efficiency was recorded from the CS R-RM-R. The study revealed that planting mustard between two rice crops (premium quality varieties with short duration aman), either as a sole crop or with the relay of aman rice, is one of the most profitable options for crop intensification in rice-fallow-rice cropping systems. Crop diversification food and nutrition security premium quality rice sustainable intensification sustainable farming systems productivity Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 1. Introduction Rice-based cropping systems have been playing an important role in the food and nutritional security of millions of people in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia (Timsina and Connor 2001 ; Timsina et al. 2010 ; Bhatt et al. 2021 ; Upadhaya et al. 2022 ; Dhanda et al. 2022 ; Khedwal et al. 2023 ). Increasing population, extreme weather events, frequent natural calamities, irrigation water deficit, labor shortages and high labor wages during the peak crop seasons and ecosystem disruption have already affected the livelihood of millions of people in this region (Handmer et al. 2012 ; Brammer 2016 ; Islam et al. 2021 ). Besides, the overall production costs are high, and farm incomes are low due to predominant manual farming and lacking adequate mechanization, high labor requirements, and high irrigation and labor costs (Gathala et al. 2016 ; Alam et al. 2018 ). On top of these negativities in farming, Jat ( 2017 ) reported that crop yields will likely decrease by 10 to 40% by 2050 due to the risk of crop failure in the IGP demonstrating less optimism in reducing hunger from the farming sector. In addition, in South Asia, there is little scope for horizontal expansion of the cultivable land further since the intensification of rice-based cropping systems has already put enormous pressure on natural resources, particularly water and land (Shew et al. 2019 ; Emran et al. 2022 ). As a result, there is a need to develop sustainable and resilient rice-based cropping systems that can meet the growing demand for rice and other food crops while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the systems. Rice-based cropping systems dominate the agricultural landscapes in Bangladesh, covering around 75% of the total cultivated land, and playing a crucial role in ensuring food security and poverty alleviation (Timsina et al. 2018 ; Al Mamun et al. 2021 ; BBS 2021 ; Kabir et al. 2021 ). Rice serves as the primary food source for most of the population and contributes to around 67.5% of the total calorie intake (Saha et al. 2021 ). Wheat is the second important cereal crop in achieving food and nutritional security in Bangladesh (Shiferaw et al. 2013 ). The national consumption of wheat has doubled from 2000–2023 due to rapid changes in dietary patterns (Anonymous 2021 ). Domestic pulse and oilseed productions however makes up less than half of the country’s needs, needing to import the rest and hence incurring a huge foreign currency loss (BBS 2021 ). Rice-based systems contribute significantly to the national economy by generating export earnings and reducing the dependence on food imports (Shew et al. 2019 ). Out of more than 300 cropping systems prevailing in Bangladesh, the first three major systems are rice only systems: boro rice − fallow − aman rice (27%), boro rice − fallow − fallow (13%), and fallow-fallow- aman rice (6%) (Nasim et al. 2018 ). Bangladesh’s farmers are mostly marginal and small-scale producers who have already been using rice varieties with 80% yield gain of rice yield potential, leaving little room for additional yield improvement (Alauddin and Biswas 2014 ; Islam 2018 ). While Agriculture is still the major sector employing 45% of labor and accounting for almost 13% of the gross domestic product (GDP) (BBS 2021 ). However, agricultural laborers often face unemployment or underemployment problems due to seasonal work in crop production and crop failure due to natural calamities. According to Assefa et al. ( 2021 ) and Shew et al. ( 2019 ); increasing the cropping intensity and diversifying the crops will provide avenues for growing more crops per year and cultivating high-value crops, resulting in high household incomes and a more robust and sustainable pathway for reducing poverty. Several reports stated that food security in Bangladesh greatly depends on sustainable cropping intensification (SI) and climate-smart production systems (World Bank 2022 ; Rahman et al. 2024 ). Developing sustainable and resilient rice-based cropping systems has the potential to stabilize farm income and reduce the country's unemployment problem. Bangladesh’s population by 2030 will be 189 million at an annual growth rate of 1.1% (IFPRI 2012 ; BBS 2022 ). The dietary patterns of the people have been changing due to the transformation of agricultural food production systems (de Brauw et al. 2020 ). Increasing crop intensification could be an important strategy for increasing agricultural productivity, reducing poverty, and ensuring food security (Alam et al. 2021 ; Lyu et al. 2021 ). Increasing and practicing cropping intensification sustainably can also reduce the reliance on external inputs and improve the use of natural resources (Abraham et al. 2014 ; Jourdain et al. 2020 ). The benefits accrued by cropping intensification are multiple for both farmers and the environment, including increased crop productivity and farm income, improved soil health, reduced input costs and enhanced profits, and reduced water use and pest and disease pressure (Kumar et al. 2017 ; Emran et al. 2022 ). Crop intensification can increase crop yields by up to 30%, which will have the potential to reduce poverty and enhance food security (World Bank 2018 ). Also, rice consumers in Bangladesh and South Asia in general prefer premium quality rice (PQR) that has superior grain quality and farmers receive higher prices from such varieties (Saha et al. 2021 ; Shozib et al. 2021 ). Capitalizing these benefits are particularly important in developing countries like Bangladesh, where agricultural productivity is often low and natural resources are declining. Hence, increasing cropping intensification and including PQR in the cropping systems can dramatically increase the profitability, sustainability, and resilience of rice-based cropping systems. The organic matter content of Bangladeshi soils is typically below the critical level of 1.5% (Shil et al. 2016 ). Declining soil fertility causes national yield stagnation, leading to a steady increase in the use of chemical fertilizers (BBS 2022 ). The inclusion of lentil, mungbean, and mustard in the rice-based cropping systems can increase crop intensification (Alam et al. 2017 ) and improve soil health, reduce pest and disease pressure, and increase overall productivity (Gora et al. 2024 ). These crops have unique properties that make them well-suited to rice-based cropping systems, including their ability to fix nitrogen, improve soil structure, and enhance growth of beneficial soil microorganisms (Singh et al. 2020 ; Islam et al. 2023 ). By including these crops in the rotation, farmers can improve their cropping systems' overall productivity and sustainability. To address the low productivity, low profits and reduced soil fertility problems in existing rice only systems ( aman rice-fallow, boro rice-fallow, aman rice-fallow- boro rice), there is a need for developing innovative and sustainable rice-based cropping systems that can increase farmers’ profitability, sustainability, and resilience in Bangladesh and South Asia as whole. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the performances of different cropping systems by incorporating non-rice crops (lentil, wheat, mungbean, mustard), short-duration rice variety, and PQR varieties in the existing rice only systems for increasing cropping systems intensification and diversification and farmers' profit. We hypothesized that inclusion of the non-rice crops and premium quality and short-duration rice cultivars in the rice only systems would increase total system productivity and profitability and improve the sustainability of crop production. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Experimental site and climatic conditions Cropping systems based on-farm experiments were conducted over two years (2014/15 and 2015/16) at farmers’ fields of different locations in seven villages in two adjacent districts (Jashore and Jhenaidah) of Bangladesh. All trial fields in both districts belonged to the Agro-Ecological Zone-11 (AEZ-11) High Ganges River Floodplain (HGRF). AEZ 11 predominantly has high to medium land, with 43% high land (0–30 cm inundation depth), 32% medium high land (30–90 cm depth), and 12% medium low land (90–180 cm depth) (FRG 2012 ). The HGRF is an area of very diverse cropping patterns (around 176 patterns), with the most dominant pattern of boro rice − fallow − aman rice occupying 32.3% of the net cropped area (Dewan et al. 2018 ). Farmers in this area mostly cultivate long-duration boro and aman rice cultivars to receive high yields. Subbollata (around 140–145 days) in boro and Gutiswarna (145–150 days) in aman are two major cultivars dominating in this boro − fallow − aman pattern. Although these varieties generally give good yields, due to the coarse/bold type grain quality, their grain prices are relatively lower than the varieties with long and slender types with premium grain quality (CSISA 2016 ). Soils in HGRF are silty loam and silty clay loam on the upper parts of floodplain ridges and dark grey clay soils in the basins. The predominant soil types are Calcareous Dark Grey Floodplain soils and Calcareous Brown Floodplain soils. Organic matter content in the brown ridge soils is low, but higher in the dark grey soils. In general, top-soils are slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, but there has been a significant lowering of soil pH in the highlands in recent years and in some places, topsoils have become strongly acidic. Sub soils are slightly alkaline. The region belongs to the subtropical monsoon with an average rainfall of 1500 to 1650 mm of which about 90% occurs from May to October. The monthly mean minimum temperature ranges from 10.2–11.3°C in January to 25.6–26.4°C in July/August, while the monthly mean maximum temperature ranges from 24.6–25.6°C in January to 35.6–36.3°C in April. The temperature and rainfall data during the trial period are presented in Fig. 1 . 2.2. Experimental treatments and design Five rice-based cropping systems were evaluated in the farmers’ field including (i) Rice-Fallow-Rice (R-F-R), (ii) Rice-Mustard-Rice (R-M-R), (iii) Rice-Lentil-Mungbean (R-L-M) (iv) Rice-Wheat-Mungbean (R-W-M) and (v) Rice-Relay Mustard-Rice (R-RM-R). In each district, the trial had 6 replications, resulting in a total of 12 replications in the study. In each district, nearby 3–4 villages were selected and, in each village, cropping systems were established in five farmers' fields. Each field had one system, thus resulting in five systems in five farmers' fields, and since all five farmers' fields were together, they were considered located in a block, with a total 60 farmers’ fields. The size of each farmer field was 1000–1400 m 2 . The experimental design was a randomized complete block. The duration of each crop in a system is presented in Supplementary Fig. 1 . General Characteristics of cultivars used in cropping systems are presented in Supplementary Table 1 . 2.3. Crop management 2.3.1. Rice -Fallow-Rice 2.3.1.1 Aman rice Seeds of the rice variety, Gutiswarna were soaked in water for about 48 hours followed by their warming by covering with rice straw to facilitate sprouting. The sprouted seeds were then broadcast at 35 kg ha − 1 in the nursery bed between 20 and 25 June each year. The main field was puddled by a 2WT (two-wheel tractor) before seven days of transplanting through four passes of ploughing followed by two to three laddering. Twenty to thirty days old seedlings were carefully uprooted from the seedbed and transplanted into the main field with a spacing of 20 cm × 20 cm with 2–3 seedlings. Phosphate (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), and zinc (Zn) were applied basally @15-50-10-2.2 kg ha − 1 through triple superphosphate (TSP), muriate of potash (MoP), gypsum, and zinc sulphate; and nitrogen (N) was applied through urea. The N fertilizer @ 90 kg ha − 1 was applied in three equal splits at 10–15 days after transplanting (DAT), at maximum tillering (MT), and at panicle initiation (PI). Aman rice was grown as rainfed. Weeds were controlled by the pre-emergence herbicide at 2–5 DAT followed by 1–2 manual hand weeding. Insects and diseases were managed as and when required. Rice crop was harvested during November 15–30. 2.3.1.2 Fallow In rice -fallow- rice system fields remained fallow from December to January (just after aman harvesting to boro transplanting) and end of May to mid-July ( boro harvesting to aman transplanting). 2.3.1.3 Boro rice Rice variety, Suballata, was used and sprouted seeds were sown in the seed bed between 20 and 25 December each year. The rice field was puddled with four passes followed by 2–3 laddering using a 2WT about a week before transplanting. Forty to forty-five days old seedlings were carefully uprooted from the seedbed and transplanted into the main field with a spacing of 20 cm × 20 cm with 2–3 seedlings. P, K, S, and Zn were applied basally @15-50-10-2.2 kg ha − 1 TSP), MoP, gypsum, and zinc sulphate; respectively; and N was applied through urea. The N fertilizer @ 160 kg ha − 1 was applied in three equal splits at 15–20 DAT, at MT, and at PI. The boro crop was a completely irrigated crop and alternate wetting and drying was followed for the irrigations. The crop was harvested during May 1–15. 2.3.2. Rice -Mustard-Rice 2.3.2.1 Aman rice Rice variety, Binadhan-7, was used. 20–25 days old seedlings were transplanted. Other management practices were the same as followed for a variety of Gutiswarna (section 2.3.1.1 ). The crop was harvested during October 15–30. 2.3.2.2 Mustard Mustard (variety BARI Sarisha-14, duration 75–80 days) was sown between 15–30 October each year at 6 kg seed ha − 1 , maintaining 30 cm row spacing and 2–3 cm depth. Just after aman rice harvest, the land was dry till (2 passes) using a tractor-driven disc plow plough. Fertilizer was applied at the rate of 90 kg N ha − 1 as urea, 30 kg P ha − 1 as TSP, 40 kg K ha − 1 as MoP, 25 kg S ha − 1 as Gypsum, 2 kg Zn ha − 1 as zinc sulphate and 1 kg B ha − 1 as boric acid. ½ urea and a total amount of other fertilizers were applied before seed sowing. The remaining urea was applied 20–30 days after sowing (DAS). Weeds were well controlled by one or two manual hand weeding. One or two irrigation were provided either top dress application of urea or at the pod filling stage. Aphid infestation was very common in mustard that was controlled by the application of dimethoyed (Tufgor 40EC®, Auto Crop Care Ltd. Bangladesh) @ 1000 g a.i. ha − 1 or any other insecticide available at the local level. Leaf blight and Alternaria blight were controlled (if affected) by the spraying of Iprodione (Rovral 50WP®, Auto Crop Care Ltd. Bangladesh) @ 500 g a.i. ha − 1 or any other fungicide available at the local level. The crop was harvested between 1–15 January each year. 2.3.2.3 Boro rice Rice variety BRRI dhan50 (155–160 days duration) was used. All other management practices were similar to variety Suballata (section 2.3.1.3 ) except seeding and transplanting and both were 10–15 days late compared to Suballata. BRRI dhan50 is a premium quality rice and susceptible to blast diseases, that’s why fungicides were applied two times (one-week intervals) during the heading. The crop was harvested during 15–30 May. 2.3.3. Rice -Lentil-Mungbean 2.3.3.1 Aman rice Variety Binadhan-7 was used and management practices were similar to section 2.3.2.1 . 2.3.3.2 Lentil BARI Masur-4, 105–110 days growth duration was used. Just immediately after harvesting of Binadhan-7, the field was dry cultivated (2 passes) using a tractor-driven disc plough, applied all basal fertilizer and seeds were sown from 25 October to 1st week of November. Nitrogen was applied @20 kg ha − 1 as urea, P 16 kg ha − 1 as TSP, K 20 kg ha − 1 as MoP, and S 10 kg ha − 1 as gypsum. All the fertilizers were broadcasted during the land preparation. Seed rate was used at @ 35 kg ha − 1 maintaining 25 cm row spacing (manual seeding) with 3–4 cm soil depth. Weeds were managed by one hand weeding at 30–40 DAS. No irrigation was provided. Foot rot and stemphylium blight diseases were very common for lentil and they were managed by the spraying of fungicide carbendazim at the rate of 500 g a.i. ha − 1 (Autostin 50 WDG®, Auto Crop Care Ltd. Bangladesh). The crops were harvested during 15–25 February each year. 2.3.3.3 Mungbean BARI Mung-6, 60–65 days duration was used. Just after harvesting of lentil the field was dry cultivated (2 passes) using tractor-driven disc plough, applied fertilizer and the seeds of Mungbean were broadcasted around 1–15 March. The seeds were sown manually at the rate of 40 kg seed ha − 1 with a row spacing of 30 cm with 2–3 cm soil depth. The fertilizers were applied @ 20, 20 and 30 kg of N, P, and K ha − 1 as a form of urea, TSP and MoP, respectively. Weeds were well controlled by one hand weeding around 30–40 DAS. The pod borer infestation was very common in Mungbean and it was controlled by spraying of insecticide deltamethron @ 12.5 g a.i. ha − 1 (Desis 2.5 EC®, Bayer Crop Science, Bangladesh). The crop was harvested around 15–30 May each year. 2.3.4. Rice -Wheat-Mungbean 2.3.4.1 A man rice Variety Binadhan-7 was used and management practices were similar to section 2.3.2.1 2.3.4.2 Wheat BARI gom 26, 105–110 days growth duration was used. Just after harvesting of Binadhan-7 the field was dry cultivated (2 passes) using a tractor-driven disc plough, applied fertilizer and the seeds of wheat were broadcasted around 10–20 November each year. Seeds were broadcasted manually with @ 120 kg ha − 1 at a sowing depth of 3–5 cm. Fertilizers N, P, K, S and B were applied @ 90, 25, 50, 25, and 2 kg, respectively, as a form of urea, triple super phosphate, muriate of potash, gypsum, and boric acid. Just before wheat sowing, two-thirds of the N, as well as all the P, K, S, and B, were applied, and the remaining N was applied before the first irrigation. During each season, the wheat was irrigated 2–3 times: immediately after sowing, tillering stage or and during the grain filling stage. Weeds were managed by one manual hand weeding around 25–40 DAS. The crop was harvested around 1–15 March. 2.3.4.3 Mungbean BARI Mung-5 was used and management practices were almost similar to section 2.3.3.3 except the sowing date was delayed to 10–15 days. In this pattern, mungbean crop seeds were sown around 10–25 March and harvested end of May to 2nd week of June. 2.3.5. Rice -Relay Mustard-Rice 2.3.5.1 Aman rice BRRI dhan34 with 130–135 day growth duration was used. Land preparation was similar to other aman rice varieties (section 2.3.1.1 ). The BRRI dhan34 used slightly less fertilizer (according to BRRI recommendation) than other aman varieties used in this study. Nutrients P, K, S, and Zn were applied as a basal @ 10-30-10-2 kg ha − 1 in the form of TSP, MoP, gypsum, and zinc sulphate, respectively. The N fertilizer at the rate of 60 kg ha − 1 was applied in two equal splits at 20–25 DAT and at MT. This variety has photosensitivity that’s why seeding and transplanting were done slightly later than other aman varieties. For this variety, seeding was done around 10–20 July and transplanting around 1–10 August. BRRI dhan34 is an aromatic small grain fine rice and highly susceptible to blast diseases, that’s why fungicides were applied two times (one-week intervals) during the heading to control neck blast. The crop was harvested from late November to early December each year. 2.3.5.2 Relay mustard Tori-7, 70–80 days growth duration mustard variety was used. Overnight primed mustard seeds at the rate of 6 kg ha − 1 were broadcasted into the stand aman rice crop just two weeks before the harvesting of crop (November 10–20 each year). Immediately after harvesting of aman rice (variety BRRI dhan34), all fertilizers were applied @ 90 kg N ha − 1 as urea, 30 kg P ha − 1 as TSP, 40 kg K ha − 1 as MoP, 25 kg S ha − 1 as Gypsum, 2 kg Zn ha − 1 as zinc sulphate and 1 kg B ha − 1 as boric acid. No weeding and no irrigation were required for the crop. The disease and insect management practices were the same as in section 2.3.2.2 . The crops are typically harvested during the first and second weeks of February each year. 2.3.5.3 Boro rice Variety BRRI dhan50 was used and management practices were similar to section 2.3.2.3 . 2.4. Crop monitoring and data collection The research team carefully monitored the farmers' participation in this cropping system trial. All the management practices were carried out by the farmers with the advice of the research team to ensure uniformity. 2.4.1. Input cost data All costs involved to crops (seed to harvest) were recorded either directly or by farmers interviewed. Major crop inputs were seed, land preparation, fertilizer, irrigation, pesticides, labor costs for seeding, transplanting, intercultural operation, and harvesting. 2.4.2. Crop phenology During the growing season of each crop, phenology data were recorded through frequent monitoring of the crop. Growth duration was calculated from sowing to harvest. 2.4.3. Crop yield At the maturity stage, the grain yield of each crop was measured from the randomly selected three quadrates, each with an area of 15 m 2 (5 m × 3 m). Grains were manually threshed and fresh grain weight was measured using a digital balance with simultaneous measurement of grain moisture content. Finally, grain yield of all crops was adjusted to t ha − 1 at 12% (wheat), 14% (rice), and 10% (mungbean and mustard) moisture level. At the time of grain yield measurement, fresh straw/stover yield of each crop was also measured and sub-samples (100 g) were taken to oven dry. Finally, straw/stover yield was converted to oven-dry weight. 2.5 Rice equivalent yield (REY) and systems rice equivalent yield (SREY) The rice equivalent yield (REY) of lentil, mungbean, wheat and mustard were calculated s: $$\:\text{R}\text{E}\text{Y}\:\left(\text{C}\text{r}\text{o}\text{p}\:{\prime\:}\text{x}{\prime\:}\right)=Yx\:\left(\frac{Px}{Pr}\right)$$ Where, Y x is the crop yield of ‘x’, P x is the price of crop ‘x’ and P r is the price of rice (Biswas et al. 2006). The price of rice, wheat, lentil, mungbean and mustard were considered from the farm gate price of the respected area in BDT (Bangladeshi taka), which were converted to US $ using 1 US $ =84.26 BDT. The SREY was calculated by the sum of the yield (rice grain yield and for mustard/wheat/lentil/mungbean REY) of all three crops in a sequence in a cropping year. 2.6 System production efficiency System production efficiency (kg ha − 1 d − 1 ) was calculated from the sum of the total production (yield) in a cropping system divided by the total duration of used crop in the cropping system (Tomer and Tiwari, 1990) as: Production efficiency = ∑yi/∑di Where yi is the yield of i th crop, di is the crop duration of the i th crop. 2.7 System land use efficiency System land use efficiency (%) was calculated from the total duration of crop a cropping system divided by a year (365 days) as described by Tomer and Tiwari, (1990) as: Land use efficiency = (∑di/365)×100 Where di is the duration of the i th crop. 2.8 System protein output System protein output from the cropping system was calculated from the total output of the protein from the grain of each crop used in the cropping system trial using the formula: Protein output (kg ha − 1 ) = protein (%)×dry grain yield (t ha − 1 )×1000/100 The protein content of rice, wheat, lentil, mungbean, and mustard were considered as 8.8, 12.1, 25, 20.9 and 27.6%, respectively (Timsina and Humphreys 2006 ; BARI 2011 ; Hossain et al. 2015 ). 2.9 System energy output System energy output was calculated from the sum of the energy output (grain and straw/stover) used in the cropping system considering the energy content of rice grain, rice straw, mustard grain, mustard stover, wheat grain, wheat straw, lentil grain, lentil stover, mungbean grain, mungbean stover 14.7, 15.6, 22.7, 12.5, 14.7, 15.8, 14.4, 12,5, 15.5 and 12.5 MJ kg − 1 , respectively (Khan and Hossain 2007 ; Yadav et al. 2017 ). 2.10 System profitability System profitability (US $ ha − 1 d − 1 ) was calculated by the total system net return (US $ ) of a cropping system divided by 365 days. 2.11 Sustainable yield index The sustainable yield index (SYI) is an index that evaluates the efficiency of crop production systems by comparing the actual productivity achieved with the maximum yield (Wanjari et al. 2004 ). It was calculated as: SYI= (Y mean -SD)/Y max Where, Y mean is the mean yield of the respective cropping system, Y max is the system maximum yield under a set of treatments and SD is the standard deviation. 2.12 Economics The total variable costs were calculated from the required operational costs in the experiment including land preparation, fertilizers, seed sowing and seedling preparation, transplanting, irrigation, pesticides, harvesting, threshing, and cleaning, etc. All the costs in Bangladeshi taka were converted to US $ considering an exchange rate of 1 US $ =84.26 BDT. The gross return was calculated from the grain and straw yield and their price. The farmgate prices of each crop in each year was considered in this calculation. Straw/stover prices were considered from its local level price. Net return was determined from the difference of gross return and total cost of production. Benefit-cost ratio (BCR) was calculated from gross return divided by total cost. Cropping system performance was determined from the total of each crop used in the specific cropping system. 2.13 Weather data The weather data (temperatures and rainfall) of the trial site during the experimental period were collected from the Bangladesh Metrological Department (BMD) local station. 2.14 Statistical analysis The recorded and calculated data were subjected to the homogeneity and normality tests prior to the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The data's homogeneity and normality conditions were satisfied for running further ANOVA. Analyses were performed using the statistical software JMP 17 (JMP 13.0.0, SAS Institute Inc.). A generalized linear model was applied to determine the cropping system effects on the experimental variables within each farmer’s (replication) field. Replicates were considered as a random factor. Means were separated using Tukey’s honestly significant difference test at the 5% probability level. The combined analysis of years was significant but not different for the two sites, therefore, the data and results were presented year-wise and combined for sites. 3. Results 3.1. Crop duration In R-F-R cropping systems, the aman rice cultivar, Gutiswarna, which was used in aman , had the duration ranging from 143 to 150 days, while for the boro cultivar, Suballota, it ranged from 141 to 147 days ( Table 1 ) . In R-M-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M, however, the duration of aman variety Binadhan-7, ranged from 111–118 days. In R-RM-R system, the duration of aman rice cultivar, BRRI dhan34, ranged from 134–141 days. In R-M-R and R-RM-R systems, the crop duration of BRRI dhan50 ranged from 149–156 days. The crop duration of mustard cultivar, BARI sorisha14, in R-M-R systems ranged from 73–80 days and cultivar Tori-7 in R-RM-R systems was 66–72 days. The wheat cultivar, BARI gom-26, in R-W-M systems, ranged from 107–113 days. In R-L-M and R-W-M systems, the crop duration of Mungbean cultivar, BARI Mung-6, ranged from 59–66 days. In R-L-M systems, the crop duration of lentil cultivar, BARI masur-4, ranged from 109–115 days. Table 1 Cultivar-wise crop duration, grain yield, and straw/stover yield in different cropping systems Season Cultivar Parameters Cropping systems Crop duration (days) Grain yield (t/ha) Straw/Stover yield (t/ha) Aman 2014 Gutiswarna R-F-R 147 ± 3.2 5.20 ± 0.18 6.13 ± 0.18 Binadhan-7 R-M-R 115 ± 2.6 4.83 ± 0.07 4.93 ± 0.07 R-L-M 113 ± 2.2 4.56 ± 0.15 5.81 ± 0.23 R-W-M 114 ± 2.1 4.95 ± 0.11 5.13 ± 0.26 BRRI dhan34 R-RM-R 139 ± 2.8 3.19 ± 0.12 4.34 ± 0.38 Aman 2015 Gutiswarna R-F-R 145 ± 2.8 5.16 ± 0.13 6.59 ± 0.22 Binadhan-7 R-M-R 117 ± 1.8 5.09 ± 0.16 5.23 ± 0.15 R-L-M 115 ± 2.0 4.80 ± 0.12 5.25 ± 0.14 R-W-M 114 ± 2.3 4.62 ± 0.16 5.62 ± 0.25 BRRI dhan34 R-RM-R 137 ± 3.1 3.36 ± 0.16 4.69 ± 0.34 Boro 2014/15 Suballota R-F-R 145 ± 2.5 6.27 ± 0.15 6.20 ± 0.15 BRRI dhan50 R-M-R 154 ± 2.2 5.92 ± 0.10 5.86 ± 0.26 R-RM-R 152 ± 2.4 5.75 ± 0.15 5.93 ± 0.29 Boro 2015/16 Suballota R-F-R 143 ± 2 6.18 ± 0.27 7.75 ± 0.11 BRRI dhan50 R-M-R 153 ± 2.1 6.08 ± 0.10 6.59 ± 0.13 R-RM-R 151 ± 2.7 6.12 ± 0.20 6.30 ± 0.20 Mustard 2014/15 BARI sorisha14 R-M-R 78 ± 2 1.60 ± 0.09 1.99 ± 0.12 Tori-7 R-RM-R 68 ± 1.2 1.07 ± 0.12 1.16 ± 0.09 Mustard 2015/16 BARI sorisha14 R-M-R 75 ± 2 1.53 ± 0.10 3.48 ± 0.15 Tori-7 R-RM-R 71 ± 1.6 1.13 ± 0.11 1.77 ± 0.13 Wheat 2014/15 BARI gom26 R-W-M 109 ± 2 3.89 ± 0.32 4.59 ± 0.44 Wheat 2015/16 BARI gom26 R-W-M 112 ± 1.4 3.67 ± 0.46 4.48 ± 0.42 Mungbean 2015 BARI mung6 R-L-M 64 ± 2.3 1.37 ± 0.35 2.21 ± 0.19 BARI mung6 R-W-M 65 ± 2.1 1.29 ± 0.29 2.58 ± 0.22 Mungbean 2016 BARI mung6 R-L-M 61 ± 2.2 1.30 ± 0.14 2.16 ± 0.15 BARI mung6 R-W-M 64 ± 2.3 1.39 ± 0.22 2.79 ± 0.34 Lentil 2014/15 BARI masur4 R-L-M 113 ± 4.2 1.86 ± 0.43 2.49 ± 0.29 Lentil 2015/16 BARI masur4 R-L-M 110 ± 3.5 1.68 ± 0.36 2.10 ± 0.33 R-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Values in the columns are the mean of the replication ± standard errors. 3.2. Grain yield In R-F-R cropping systems, the rice grain yield of aman rice cultivar, Gutiswarna, ranged from 5.03–5.48 t ha − 1 , while boro cultivar, Suballota, ranged from 5.98–6.52 t ha − 1 ( Table 1 ). In R-M-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M cropping systems the yield of Binadhan-7 ranged from 4.41–5.29 t ha − 1 . In R-RM-R systems, the grain yield of BRRI dhan34 ranged from 3.07–3.52 t ha − 1 . In R-M-R and R-RM-R systems, the grain yield of BRRI dhan50 ranged from 5.55–6.45 t ha − 1 . The grain yield of mustard cultivar, BARI sorisha-14, in R-M-R systems was 1.44–1.69 t ha − 1 , and cultivar Tori-7 in R-RM-R systems was 1.02–1.24 t ha − 1 . The grain yield of wheat cultivar, BARI gom-26, in R-W-M systems ranged from 3.51–4.01 t ha − 1 . In R-L-M and R-W-M systems, the grain yield of the Mungbean cultivar, BARI Mung-6, ranged from 1.20–1.47 t ha − 1 . In R-L-M systems, the grain yield of lentil cultivar, BARI Masur-4, ranged from 1.58–1.96 t ha − 1 . 3.3. Straw/ Stover yield In aman , the straw yield of Gutiswarna, Binadhan-7, and BRRI dhan34, varied from 5.95–6.81, 4.86–6.04, and 3.96–5.03 t ha − 1 respectively, while in boro , it was 6.05–7.86 and 5.60–6.72 t ha − 1 for Suballota and BRRI dhan50 ( Table 1 ). The stover yield of mustard ranged from 1.92–3.63 and 1.12–1.90 t ha − 1 , respectively for BARI Sarisha-14 and Tori. The straw yield of wheat varied from 4.42–4.71 t ha − 1 . The stover yield of mungeben and lentils varied from 2.11–3.03 and 1.97–2.68 t ha − 1 , respectively. 3.4. Crop wise economics The total variable cost for rice in boro season did not vary much for the two varieties (BRRI dhan50 vs Suballota) ( Table 2 ). But in aman season, it was 8–12% and 4–7% higher for Gutisworna than for Binadhan-7 and BRRI dhan34, respectively. For mustard, the total variable cost was 20–25% higher for BARI Sarisha-14 than Tori. The wheat and lentil growing period was almost the same, but wheat production cost was 15–20% higher than the lentil ( Table 2 ). Table 2 Cultivar-wise total variable cost, net return, and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in different cropping systems (1 US $ =84.26 BDT) Season Cultivar Parameters Cropping systems Gross return (US $ /ha) Total variable cost (US $ /ha) Net return (US $ /ha) BCR Aman 2014 Gutiswarna R-F-R 1235 ± 37 907 ± 52 328 ± 45 1.37 ± 0.12 Binadhan-7 R-M-R 1158 ± 66 829 ± 47 329 ± 32 1.39 ± 0.12 R-L-M 1116 ± 89 815 ± 37 300 ± 20 1.37 ± 0.08 R-W-M 1176 ± 99 818 ± 45 357 ± 39 1.43 ± 0.06 BRRI dhan34 R-RM-R 1222 ± 75 884 ± 35 338 ± 31 1.46 ± 0.08 Aman 2015 Gutiswarna R-F-R 1373 ± 94 911 ± 40 462 ± 33 1.51 ± 0.11 Binadhan-7 R-M-R 1295 ± 80 838 ± 38 467 ± 33 1.55 ± 0.06 R-L-M 1274 ± 72 842 ± 44 433 ± 46 1.54 ± 0.07 R-W-M 1254 ± 89 829 ± 51 425 ± 49 1.52 ± 0.08 BRRI dhan34 R-RM-R 1360 ± 62 859 ± 46 501 ± 78 1.60 ± 0.11 Boro 2014/15 Suballota R-F-R 1706 ± 68 1222 ± 41 484 ± 29 1.41 ± 0.07 BRRI dhan50 R-M-R 2020 ± 93 1220 ± 43 800 ± 43 1.68 ± 0.12 R-RM-R 2011 ± 111 1248 ± 61 763 ± 62 1.61 ± 0.11 Boro 2015/16 Suballota R-F-R 1830 ± 75 1182 ± 64 649 ± 77 1.55 ± 0.07 BRRI dhan50 R-M-R 2088 ± 122 1235 ± 49 853 ± 34 1.70 ± 0.10 R-RM-R 1910 ± 74 1188 ± 42 722 ± 51 1.61 ± 0.09 Mustard 2014/15 BARI sorisha14 R-M-R 997 ± 55 418 ± 39 579 ± 58 2.40 ± 0.15 Tori-7 R-RM-R 652 ± 64 327 ± 25 355 ± 36 1.99 ± 0.18 Mustard 2015/16 BARI sorisha14 R-M-R 980 ± 80 422 ± 26 559 ± 45 2.42 ± 0.13 Tori-7 R-RM-R 733 ± 75 343 ± 22 390 ± 36 2.13 ± 0.17 Wheat 2014/15 BARI Gom26 R-W-M 980 ± 70 630 ± 22 350 ± 46 1.58 ± 0.09 Wheat 2015/16 BARI Gom26 R-W-M 1033 ± 85 606 ± 39 427 ± 43 1.72 ± 0.08 Mungbean 2015 BARI mung6 R-L-M 750 ± 78 517 ± 56 233 ± 48 1.46 ± 0.16 BARI mung6 R-W-M 706 ± 87 555 ± 46 151 ± 48 1.27 ± 0.18 Mungbean 2016 BARI mung6 R-L-M 929 ± 92 537 ± 72 392 ± 35 1.74 ± 0.12 BARI mung6 R-W-M 992 ± 130 614 ± 68 378 ± 61 1.61 ± 0.15 Lentil 2014/15 BARI masur4 R-L-M 1575 ± 86 536 ± 30 1040 ± 78 2.95 ± 0.15 Lentil 2015/16 BARI masur4 R-L-M 1496 ± 106 516 ± 45 980 ± 100 2.90 ± 0.21 R-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Values in the columns are the mean of the replication ± standard errors. In aman season, the total gross return was almost similar for Gutiswarna and BRRI dhan34, which was 6–10% higher than for Binadhan-7 ( Table 2 ) . In boro season, the gross return was 15–20% higher for BRRI dhan50 compared to Suballota. The gross return for mustard was 25–35% higher for BARI sorisha14 than Tori. Compared to wheat, the gross return of lentil was 35–40% higher. The net return in the second aman season was much higher for all cultivars compared to the first season due to higher rice prices. In the first season, the net return was almost similar for all the varieties but in the second season, Gutiswarna and Binadhan-7 had similar net returns which were 7–15% lower than for BRRI dhan34. In both boro seasons, the net return of BRRI dhan50 was 20–35% higher than for Suballota. The net return for mustard was 30–40% higher for BARI sorisha-14 than Tori. Among non-rice crops, lentils consistently had a higher net return, ranging from 40–65% more than mustard and wheat sowing during the same period. The BCR ranged from 1.25–1.80, 1.80–2.55, 1.50–1.80, 1.10–1.80, and 2.70–3.10 for rice, mustard, wheat, mungbean and lentil, respectively ( Table 2 ) . 3.5. System REY and duration The highest REY (14.1–14.4 t ha − 1 ) was recorded from R-M-R which was similar to R-RM-R in 2015/16 but not in 2014/15 ( Fig. 2 ). The lowest REY (11.2–11.4 t ha − 1 ) was recorded from R-F-R which was similar to R-W-M in both seasons. The intermediate REY (12.5–12.7 t ha − 1 ) was recorded from R-L-M, which was similar to that for R-RM-R. The system's crop duration was influenced by the different cropping systems. R-M-R required the longest duration, ranging from 344 to 347 days, which was comparable to that for R-RM-R ( Table 3 ) . On the other hand, R-F-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M had similar crop duration and were significantly shorter than those of the R-M-R and R-RM-R systems. Table 3 Effect of different cropping systems on system crop duration, gross return, total variable cost, total net return, and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in 2014/15 and 2015/16 Cropping systems System duration (day) System gross return (US $ /ha) System total variable cost (US $ /ha) System total net return (US $ /ha) System BCR 2014/15 R-F-R 296 b 2924 e 2126 b 798 d 1.38 d R-M-R 347 a 4140 a 2498 a 1610 a 1.65 b R-L-M 291 b 3421 c 1859 c 1527 a 1.83 a R-W-M 287 b 3143 d 2058 b 1065 c 1.52 c R-RM-R 334 a 3892 b 2454 a 1405 b 1.58 bc 2015/16 R-F-R 291 b 3249 d 2106 b 1145 b 1.55 c R-M-R 344 a 4361 a 2499 a 1879 a 1.76 b R-L-M 287 b 3734 b 1874 c 1860 a 1.99 a R-W-M 288 b 3261 d 2032 b 1232 b 1.60 bc R-RM-R 339 a 4032 b 2396 a 1625 a 1.69 bc R-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Different lowercase letters within the column indicates significant differences. 3.6 System economics In both years, the highest gross return was found from R-M-R followed by R-RM-R and R-L-M ( Table 3 ) . The lowest gross return was found from R-F-R which was 25–30%, 20–25%, and 15–20% lower than the three top cropping systems R-M-R, R-RM-R, and R-L-M, respectively. In 2015/16, the gross return of R-F-R was similar to that of R-W-M. However, in 2014/15, R-W-M had a significantly higher gross return than R-F-R. The highest production cost (variable) was for R-M-R and R-RM-R and was similar in both years ( Table 3 ) . The lowest variable cost was for R-L-M. R-F-R and R-W-M had similar production costs. R-M-R had the highest net return which was at par with the systems R-L-M in both seasons and R-RM-R in 2015/16. The lowest net return was found for R-F-R and was similar to R-W-M in 2015/16 but significantly lower in 2014/15. R-L-M always had a higher BCR (1.83–1.99) than the other cropping systems. R-M-R and R-RM-R had a similar BCR. The lowest BCR (1.38–1.55) was found for R-F-R. 3.7. System productivity, profitability, and sustainability In both years, the system's production efficiency, land use efficiency, system's protein and energy output, system profitability, and sustainable yield index were higher for R-M-R ( Table 4 ) . R-RM-R had significantly lower systems production efficiency than for R-M-R but similar to R-L-M in both years and R-W-M in 2015/16. The lowest production efficiency was for R-F-R. R-RM-R exhibited similar land use efficiency as R-M-R, but the other three systems demonstrated significantly lower efficiency compared to R-M-R and R-RM-R. The system protein output was similar for R-RM-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M which were significantly lower than for R-M-R but higher than for R-F-R ( Table 4 ) . The systems energy output trend was R-M-R > R-F-R > R-RM-R > R-W-M > R-L-M. R-RM-R and R-L-M had similar systems profitability to R-M-R which was significantly higher than for R-F-R and R-L-M. The lowest profitability was found for R-F-R. The systems sustainable yield index trend was R-M-R > R-RM-R > R-L-M > R-F-R > R-W-M ( Table 4 ) . Table 4 Effect of different cropping systems on system production efficiency, land use efficiency, system protein output, system energy output, and system profitability in 2014/15 and 2015/16 Cropping systems Production efficiency (kg/ha/d) Land use efficiency (%) System protein output (kg/ha) System energy output (GJ/ha) System profitability (US $ /ha/d) Sustainable yield index (%) 2014/15 R-F-R 31.2 c 81.1 b 1008 c 362 b 2.18 c 0.80 bc R-M-R 38.5 a 95.0 a 1320 a 391 a 4.41 a 0.85 a R-L-M 34.8 b 79.7 b 1177 b 247 d 4.18 a 0.82 ab R-W-M 32.3 c 78.6 b 1175 b 345 bc 2.91 b 0.77 c R-RM-R 34.9 b 96.5 a 1123 b 336 c 3.85 a 0.82 ab 2015/16 R-F-R 30.7 c 79.7 b 986 c 361 b 3.13 b 0.78 bc R-M-R 39.6 a 95.3 a 1374 a 397 a 5.14 a 0.84 a R-L-M 34.2 b 78.6 b 1144 b 251 d 5.09 a 0.81 ab R-W-M 32.7 bc 78.9 b 1137 b 338 c 3.37 b 0.75 c R-RM-R 35.1 b 98.5 a 1172 b 357 bc 4.45 a 0.83 a R-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Different lowercase letters within the column indicate significant differences. 3.8. Multi-criteria assessment of different cropping systems The holistic multi-criteria assessment of system yield, economics, production and land use efficiency, protein and energy output, profitability, and sustainable yield index comparing the five cropping systems using the radial or spider diagrams showed productivity, profitability, and land use efficiency of all intensive cropping systems performed better than the currently dominant R-F-R ( Fig. 3 ) . Except for R-W-M, all other cropping systems had a better sustainable yield index than R-F-R. 4. Discussion 4.1 Profitability and sustainability of rice-fallow-rice cropping system All intensive cropping systems in the current study were profitable than the currently dominant R-F-R system in Bangladesh. In general, this system R-F-R covered around 27% of the net cropped area of Bangladesh (Nasim et al. 2018 ). However, in some areas (districts), the coverage of this system exceeds 50%, such as in Sherpur 69%, Mymensingh 65%, Gaibandha 65%, Kurigram 56%, Nilphamari 54%, and Dinajpur 50% (Nasim et al. 2018 ). Even in Jashore, where the trials were conducted and the district has a higher cropping intensity compared to other parts of the country. R-F-R covered around 43% of the area (Dewan et al. 2018 ). In many previous studies, it has been reported that the profitability and sustainability of R-F-R faces significant challenges (Mainuddin et al. 2021 ; Emran et al. 2022 ). These challenges include increasing labor and input costs, lowering of ground water table, damaging soil structure, reducing aeration and water holding capacity and creating hard pan in the subsoil, unpredictable rainfall due to climate change, natural calamities, drought, salinity, heat stress, rice price volatility, and transformation of the food system (Shamsudduha et al. 2009 ; Nawaz et al. 2022 ). In R-F-R, the dominant aman variety Gutiswarna has long duration and has poor (bold size) grain quality, the later receiving lower market price than other premium quality or fine grain varieties (Custodio et al. 2019 ; Rahman et al. 2024 ). Despite lower price, farmers prefer this variety due to its higher adaptability to different biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, disease, insects, and lodging (Iqbal et al. 2023 ) and higher straw production. In Bangladesh, farmers store aman rice straw for year-round feeding purposes mostly for cattle (Hossain 2022 ; Praveen et al. 2023 ). Harvesting time of boro rice occurs during the rainy season; hence farmers often struggle to preserve the boro straw. In contrast, aman rice is harvested during the dry season, making it easier for farmers to preserve good quality straw. Farmers mostly follow the R-F-R pattern in the medium land and medium-high land, which are generally suitable for year-round crop production. For the increasing population and food systems transformation Bangladesh needs to produce more and diversify foods which is possible only through crop intensification and diversification (Nasim et al. 2021 ), the best options for which are the lands currently occupied by the R-F-R system. In our study, the R-F-R system was inferior to other intensive and diversified cropping systems in terms of yield, net return, BCR, production and land use efficiency, protein output, and system profitability indicating that R-F-R is less profitable than the others ( Fig. 3 ) . The sustainability of crop production depends on many factors such as soil health and fertility management by using organic manure, integrated pest management, use of pesticides, food safety and quality, biodiversity, climate adaptation, energy use, and socio-economic factors (Cárceles Rodríguez et al. 2022; Grover et al. 2024 ). Considering all these factors, it is evident that the the R-F-R system, where intensive wet tillage is practiced and almost no residue is added, is less sustainable compared to other systems where crop diversification options are implemented (Alam et al. 2017 ). In our study, we calculated the sustainable yield index (SYI) based on the yield data and found that all the systems, except the R-W-M cropping system, had higher SYI than the R-F-R system. 4.2 Crop intensification and diversification for sustainable production Although Bangladesh has nearly achieved self-sufficiency in rice production, it still faces significant challenges in ensuring food security due to its high population, dietary changes, and limited potential for expanding cropland (Timsina et al. 2018 ; Jamal et al. 2022 , 2023 ). Therefore, increasing cropping intensity by the inclusion of diversified crops is the most potential option to increase the system productivity, and boost food and nutrition security.Reckling et al. ( 2023 ) reported that crop intensification and diversification not only increase the system productivity but also an effective strategy for poverty alleviation through employment generation, judicious use of land and water resources, and sustainable crop production by improving the cropping environment. In addition, crop diversification helps better use of available resources (land, labor, and water), reducing the risks of crop and market failures, and regular returns for the farmer (Feliciano 2019 ). Therefore, the type of crops considered in the cropping sequence is very important in crop diversification. In Bangladesh, different non-rice crops such as maize, potato, wheat, jute, pulses, vegetables, oil seed, and fiber crops are usually grown in sequence with rice in rice-non rice cropping patterns (Nasim et al. 2018 ; Timsina et al. 2018 ). In the current study, we evaluated mustard, lentil, wheat and mungbean to test their suitability in different intensive cropping systems. We found all intensive cropping systems (R-M-R, R-L-M, R-W-M, and R-RM-R) in the current study had higher system profitability than the R-F-R system which was mainly due to higher system REY, higher gross and net return, and higher BCR ( Tables 3 – 4 ; and Figs. 2 – 3 ) . Compared to R-F-R, R-M-R and R-RM-R required 15–20% higher production cost but the R-L-M and R-W-M had 5–12% lower production cost. It was mainly due to rice-non rice systems where we replaced boro with two non-rice crops but in R-M-R and R-RM-R we added mustard between two rices. In Table 2 , we can see that the cumulative production cost of two non-rice crops was even lower than that of the single boro rice. In Bangladesh, boro is grown under irrigated condition, and hence its production cost is very high due to higher input requirements (labor, water, fuel, tillage, etc.) and higher labor prices during the peak operations of transplanting and harvesting (Ahmed et al. 2021 ; Mainuddin et al. 2021 ). Compared to boro , other non-rice crops require less tillage, labor, irrigation, and inputs during the growing period, significantly reducing the overall production cost. The main method used for establishing boro rice is puddling followed by transplanting, which requires a large amount of labor and water. An alternative method of establishing rice, known as direct seeded rice, though is less resource demanding and profitable, it is not feasible during the boro season due to low temperatures and the unavailability of cold-tolerant varieties (Ahmed et al. 2021 ). If it's possible to establish boro rcie using direct seeding, it can save a huge amount of labor and water. The production cost of R-M-R and R-RM-R was similar because both systems used the same boro rice variety (BRRI dhan50). In the R-RM-R system, there was a slightly lower cost for the relay mustard due to no need for tillage and fewer inputs compared to the tilled mustard in the R-M-R system. However, there was a slightly higher cost for aman rice in the R-RM-R system. In aman , In R-RM-R, rice variety used in aman was BRRI dhan34 (135–140 days duration), while in R-M-R, it was Binadhan-7 (110–120 days). Aman rice is the major driver for crop intensification and diversification in Bangladesh because non-rice crop production in rabi / boro season depends entirely on the timely planting and harvesting of aman (Alam et al. 2021 ). The optimal sowing period for most non-rice crops is from the end of October to mid-November (BARI 2020 ). Planting after this window may result in significantly reduced yields (Howlader et al. 2023 ). On the other hand, during the aman season (June to October) non-rice crops are usually not possible due to frequent rain and wet/flood conditions. Therefore, the best option for crop intensification and diversification is to utilize the rabi/boro season (November to May). In the R-F-R system, farmers currently use long-duration aman varieties (140–150 days), which are the main obstacles for growing subsequent non-rice crops. It is reported that there is a significant decrease in yield of late-sown rabi (non-rice) crops when they are planted late due to the late harvest of aman rice (Khan et al. 2018 ; Howlader et al. 2023 ). In Bangladesh, when farmers use long-duration aman rice varieties, sowing of mustard gets late, resulting in reduced yields. This is because in conventional tillage system, fields need to be dried out sufficiently to allow power tillers to till the land and hence this would delay sowing the mustard seeds after the rice crop had been harvested. Rahman et al. ( 1993 ) reported yield of mustard reduced gradually by 11.7, 21.5, 43.4, and 62.9%, respectively for each week of delayed sowing after 2nd November. To overcome the issue in the R-RM-R cropping system, we planted mustard (specifically, the short-duration mustard variety, Tori ) as a relay crop. In R-L-M and R-W-M, we used a short-duration aman variety which fitted well with the sequence. Relay cropping (a special version of double cropping, where the second crop is planted into the first crop before harvesting, rather than waiting until after harvest) of mustard with aman rice could be a good option in the existing rice-rice cropping system, which could increase the system productivity as well as crop intensification. In the relay cropping system, at least 15 days is saved which is vital if the mustard crop is to be harvested before the optimal time for boro rice transplanting. Implementing the relay cropping of mustard in moist soil before the aman harvest can help reduce the cost of land preparation and allow for timely planting of mustard and boro , even after using a medium to long-duration aman variety (Tanveer et al. 2017 ; Lamichhane et al. 2023 ). Higher protein output in all intensified cropping systems in our study indicates that crop intensification and diversification may help enhance nutrition security. Our results support the findings ofAlam et al. ( 2017 ) who revealed that the addition of a high-protein crop, mungbean, to the cropping system led to a 3% increase in overall system protein output when it was intensified from a double (rice-fallow-rice) to a triple (wheat-mungbean-rice) crops rotation. In a long-term study conducted in Saskatchewan, Canada from 2004 to 2015, cropping system intensification from wheat-wheat (double) to wheat-canola-wheat-field pea (four crops) system increased the system protein output by 56% (St. Luce et al. 2020 ). In a different study,Sharma et al. ( 2009 ) demonstrated that, in comparison to the rice-wheat cropping system in India, the system protein output had increased by 30–46% in the rice–potato–mungbean and 19–26% in the rice–rapeseed–mungbean cropping systems. The difference in system protein output between cropping systems because of different crops being included in crop sequences that produced different proteins. Despite the lower system yield and profitability of the R-F-R system, the total energy output in this system was higher than the R-L-M and R-W-M systems, mainly due to higher total biomass production ( Table 4 ) . The crop energy output depends on various factors such as crop type, climate conditions, soil fertility, management practices, the availability of water and sunlight, and post-harvest processing (Elsoragaby et al. 2019 ; Kargwal et al. 2022 ; Vijayakumar et al. 2023 ). The lower SYI in the R-W-M was associated with the higher yield variability of both wheat and mungbean. Due to higher climatic variability (reducing the cold period and increasing the temperature) and disease infestation, the wheat area and production in Bangladesh is decreasing day by day (Hasan et al. 2019 ; BBS 2022 ). 4.3 Premium quality rice for higher profit Boro rice is the major share (around 55%) of total rice production in Bangladesh. However, its production becoming less profitable day by day due to higher input requirements, high irrigation water, and increased labor prices during the season (Mainuddin et al. 2021 ). Even though cultivating boro rice is less profitable, farmers are unwilling to give it up because of its importance for food security in Bangladesh. On the other hand, aman rice, which is cultivated during the wet season, often faces natural challenges such as floods, terminal droughts, and storms but remains an important crop for food security. The main issue in boro rice is how farmers can make it more profitable. One of the options to make it more profitable is to cultivate high-value and high-demand premium-quality rice. The market price of premium quality rice is generally 20–50% higher than other coarse or bold grain rice (CSISA 2016 ; Kubitza et al. 2024 ). Due to changes in consumer preferences, the demand for premium-quality rice is increasing (Mottaleb et al. 2017 ). In our study, we hypothesized that if farmers cultivate premium quality rice instead of bold or medium bold grain rice, they can generate more profit due to higher prices, while incurring similar production costs. In Bangladesh, premium-quality rice such as BRRI dhan34, Kalozera, and Chinigura, etc. are mostly cultivated in the aman season in certain areas, but not in the boro season. Recently Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and other organizations developed some premium quality rice varieties for the boro season. In our study, we tested the modern premium quality rice variety BRRI dhan50 in the boro season for both R-M-R and R-RM-R systems and the traditional premium quality variety BRRI dhan34 in aman for R-RM-R system. BRRI dhan34 yield was lower than that of Binadhan-7 used in the R-M-R system. However, due to the much higher paddy price, the gross return from BRRI dhan34 was higher than from Binadhan-7 ( Table 2 ). During our study period, we found 10–30% and 30–50% higher farmgate prices of boro and aman varieties, respectively compared to other medium/bold grain varieties in the same season. Due to the higher market prices of premium quality rice in R-M-R and R-RM-R, both these systems were more profitable than the other cropping systems. 5. Conclusions Our study aimed to evaluate the most profitable and sustainable cropping systems compared to the most dominant cropping system, R-F-R, in Bangladesh. We explored potential non-rice crops for the trials location and different duration rice varieties to diversify and intensify the current cropping system. Considering the lower profitability of rice production, we tested premium quality rice varieties for higher profit. To adjust the long duration premium quality rice variety in the intensive system we tested the relayed musted with aman rice. To address soil fertility maintenance in intensive cropping, we incorporated pulses such as lentils and mungbean into the cropping system. The results of this study revealed that all the intensive and diversified cropping systems performed better than the R-F-R system in terms of productivity, profitability, and land use efficiency. Except the SYI in the R-W-M system and energy output in the R-L-M system, other outputs such as gross and net returns, BCR, production efficiency, and protein output in all the intensive cropping systems were better than in the R-F-R system. Our study suggests that in the dominant R-F-R cropping system, farmers in the High Ganges River Floodplain areas can follow short-duration aman rice (either premium or coarse grain) followed by tilled mustard, followed by premium quality boro rice or long-duration premium quality aman rice, followed by relay mustard followed by premium quality boro rice. On the other hand, in the non-rice dominant systems, farmers can follow aman rice (short duration) followed by lentil followed by mungbean. The R-M-R cropping system is emerging as an alternative to the R-F-R cropping system, because of relatively higher price of mustard in recent times and the government's priority to reduce oil imports. Additional research on further improving the cropping system performance through intensification and diversification of short-duration crops and varieties is required. The major limitation of our study is our inability to analyze the changes in soil physical and biochemical parameters resulting from the practice of different intensive and diversified cropping systems. The study suggested that farmers in the High Ganges River Floodplain areas can adopt short-duration aman rice-mustard- boro rice or long-duration aman rice-relay mustard-boro rice in the rice only dominant cropping systems, or aman rice-lentil-mungbean in the non-rice dominant system. Declarations Acknowledgments This study was carried out under the project Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The finalization of this paper was made possible through the CGIAR Integrated Initiative Sustainable Intensification of Mixed farming systems (SI-MFS; https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/new-cgiar-initiative-on-sustainable-intensification-of-mixed-farming-systems-launched/). The authors would like to thank all agricultural development offices of CSISA-BD and the field research staff of IRRI for their huge support in conducting this very intensive trial. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, or CGIAR. We gratefully acknowledge all farmers who were directly involved and we used their land in this study. Funding: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the project Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) and CGIAR Integrated Initiative Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SI-MFS). Conflicts of interest: No conflicts of interest have been declared Ethics approval: Not applicable Consent to participate: Not applicable Consent for publication : Not applicable Availability of data and material: Upon request, data will be made available. Code availability: Not applicable Authors' contributions: AKMF and SA planned and designed the experiment. AKMF conducted the trials, while SA analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. JA assisted in writing certain sections of the manuscript and provided edits. MKA, HB, and JT carefully reviewed and edited the manuscript. 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J Clean Prod 158:. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.170 Supplementary Files Supplementaryfile.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5091319","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":412124517,"identity":"4af16d9b-a29f-4c37-8d62-8b4bdf0a4849","order_by":0,"name":"Sharif Ahmed","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAsUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNiBmlgORB0jSYky6lsQGol0l38D87NGNCuv0PumzDw8wVNyzI6jX4ACbuXHOmfTcNr50gwMMZ4qTCWthYDCTzm07nNvGw8ZwgLEtIZkIh7F/k879dzidjWgtDAd4gLY0HE6AabEjqMPgME+ZdM6xdEOwwxLOJCQQdlh7+zbpnBprefkeNuYPHyoS7Ak7jBmZA7SChAiCASJsGQWjYBSMgpEGAAFVM8RfxoVtAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3678-3345","institution":"International Rice Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sharif","middleName":"","lastName":"Ahmed","suffix":""},{"id":412124518,"identity":"17a76e01-e358-443c-a1d7-f8b3de0ec878","order_by":1,"name":"A.K.M Ferdous","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"A.K.M","middleName":"","lastName":"Ferdous","suffix":""},{"id":412124519,"identity":"4eb15fbb-eab8-409a-bc76-4951e437f390","order_by":2,"name":"Md. Jahangir Alam","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Md.","middleName":"Jahangir","lastName":"Alam","suffix":""},{"id":412124520,"identity":"02048463-c1a9-4262-b444-780fce5e267f","order_by":3,"name":"Muhammad Khairul Alam","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Muhammad","middleName":"Khairul","lastName":"Alam","suffix":""},{"id":412124521,"identity":"2804ce6a-2830-4bad-89c7-23ef6b1f597a","order_by":4,"name":"Humnath Bhandari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Humnath","middleName":"","lastName":"Bhandari","suffix":""},{"id":412124522,"identity":"ceacdcf1-596f-4f15-bf4a-f82053f222ac","order_by":5,"name":"Jagadish Timsina","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jagadish","middleName":"","lastName":"Timsina","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-09-15 05:31:02","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5091319/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5091319/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":75695390,"identity":"82280433-38a5-4c0c-8cbd-e179c9305602","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-07 08:08:40","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":147720,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDaily temperatures and rainfall during the cropping period in Jashore and Jhenaidah\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5091319/v1/fad73dc0ecbfb4a68c0f0bc0.png"},{"id":75694857,"identity":"127c0962-d32e-4ba4-ada1-932463313978","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-07 08:00:40","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":35153,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRice equivalent yield in different cropping systems. R-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Different lowercase letters above the bars indicates significant differences.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5091319/v1/231a5011d526bda586acb7eb.png"},{"id":75694858,"identity":"624d1855-b78c-421e-8c18-33701aa6e028","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-07 08:00:40","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":132190,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMulti-criteria (productivity, profitability, land use efficiency, and sustainability) assessment of different cropping systems in the (a) 2014/15 and (b) 2015/16 cropping season\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5091319/v1/616ccd4404d4189e8c742f7e.png"},{"id":75695753,"identity":"540a0685-940a-4d42-a6c8-705346d88cdc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-07 08:16:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2314615,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5091319/v1/bc3a15d1-5791-4cf4-9d6a-e1ef961aadd8.pdf"},{"id":75694860,"identity":"dba1c9f3-9130-4fab-9e30-0239de87fd73","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-07 08:00:40","extension":"docx","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":382565,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplementaryfile.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5091319/v1/80ccb9a56dc81608dddd7a41.docx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Enhancing profitability, sustainability, and resilience of rice-based cropping systems by including premium quality rice and intensifying and diversifying cropping systems","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eRice-based cropping systems have been playing an important role in the food and nutritional security of millions of people in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia (Timsina and Connor \u003cspan citationid=\"CR71\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e; Timsina et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR73\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Bhatt et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Upadhaya et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR75\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Dhanda et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Khedwal et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Increasing population, extreme weather events, frequent natural calamities, irrigation water deficit, labor shortages and high labor wages during the peak crop seasons and ecosystem disruption have already affected the livelihood of millions of people in this region (Handmer et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e; Brammer \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Islam et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Besides, the overall production costs are high, and farm incomes are low due to predominant manual farming and lacking adequate mechanization, high labor requirements, and high irrigation and labor costs (Gathala et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Alam et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). On top of these negativities in farming, Jat (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) reported that crop yields will likely decrease by 10 to 40% by 2050 due to the risk of crop failure in the IGP demonstrating less optimism in reducing hunger from the farming sector. In addition, in South Asia, there is little scope for horizontal expansion of the cultivable land further since the intensification of rice-based cropping systems has already put enormous pressure on natural resources, particularly water and land (Shew et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR64\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Emran et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). As a result, there is a need to develop sustainable and resilient rice-based cropping systems that can meet the growing demand for rice and other food crops while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the systems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRice-based cropping systems dominate the agricultural landscapes in Bangladesh, covering around 75% of the total cultivated land, and playing a crucial role in ensuring food security and poverty alleviation (Timsina et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR74\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Al Mamun et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; BBS \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Kabir et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Rice serves as the primary food source for most of the population and contributes to around 67.5% of the total calorie intake (Saha et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR61\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Wheat is the second important cereal crop in achieving food and nutritional security in Bangladesh (Shiferaw et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR65\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). The national consumption of wheat has doubled from 2000\u0026ndash;2023 due to rapid changes in dietary patterns (Anonymous \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Domestic pulse and oilseed productions however makes up less than half of the country\u0026rsquo;s needs, needing to import the rest and hence incurring a huge foreign currency loss (BBS \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Rice-based systems contribute significantly to the national economy by generating export earnings and reducing the dependence on food imports (Shew et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR64\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Out of more than 300 cropping systems prevailing in Bangladesh, the first three major systems are rice only systems: \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;fallow\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice (27%), \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;fallow\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;fallow (13%), and fallow-fallow-\u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice (6%) (Nasim et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBangladesh\u0026rsquo;s farmers are mostly marginal and small-scale producers who have already been using rice varieties with 80% yield gain of rice yield potential, leaving little room for additional yield improvement (Alauddin and Biswas \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Islam \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). While Agriculture is still the major sector employing 45% of labor and accounting for almost 13% of the gross domestic product (GDP) (BBS \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). However, agricultural laborers often face unemployment or underemployment problems due to seasonal work in crop production and crop failure due to natural calamities. According to Assefa et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) and Shew et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR64\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e); increasing the cropping intensity and diversifying the crops will provide avenues for growing more crops per year and cultivating high-value crops, resulting in high household incomes and a more robust and sustainable pathway for reducing poverty. Several reports stated that food security in Bangladesh greatly depends on sustainable cropping intensification (SI) and climate-smart production systems (World Bank \u003cspan citationid=\"CR78\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Rahman et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR58\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Developing sustainable and resilient rice-based cropping systems has the potential to stabilize farm income and reduce the country's unemployment problem.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBangladesh\u0026rsquo;s population by 2030 will be 189\u0026nbsp;million at an annual growth rate of 1.1% (IFPRI \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e; BBS \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The dietary patterns of the people have been changing due to the transformation of agricultural food production systems (de Brauw et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Increasing crop intensification could be an important strategy for increasing agricultural productivity, reducing poverty, and ensuring food security (Alam et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Lyu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Increasing and practicing cropping intensification sustainably can also reduce the reliance on external inputs and improve the use of natural resources (Abraham et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Jourdain et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). The benefits accrued by cropping intensification are multiple for both farmers and the environment, including increased crop productivity and farm income, improved soil health, reduced input costs and enhanced profits, and reduced water use and pest and disease pressure (Kumar et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Emran et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Crop intensification can increase crop yields by up to 30%, which will have the potential to reduce poverty and enhance food security (World Bank \u003cspan citationid=\"CR79\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Also, rice consumers in Bangladesh and South Asia in general prefer premium quality rice (PQR) that has superior grain quality and farmers receive higher prices from such varieties (Saha et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR61\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Shozib et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR67\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Capitalizing these benefits are particularly important in developing countries like Bangladesh, where agricultural productivity is often low and natural resources are declining. Hence, increasing cropping intensification and including PQR in the cropping systems can dramatically increase the profitability, sustainability, and resilience of rice-based cropping systems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe organic matter content of Bangladeshi soils is typically below the critical level of 1.5% (Shil et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR66\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Declining soil fertility causes national yield stagnation, leading to a steady increase in the use of chemical fertilizers (BBS \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The inclusion of lentil, mungbean, and mustard in the rice-based cropping systems can increase crop intensification (Alam et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) and improve soil health, reduce pest and disease pressure, and increase overall productivity (Gora et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). These crops have unique properties that make them well-suited to rice-based cropping systems, including their ability to fix nitrogen, improve soil structure, and enhance growth of beneficial soil microorganisms (Singh et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR68\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Islam et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). By including these crops in the rotation, farmers can improve their cropping systems' overall productivity and sustainability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo address the low productivity, low profits and reduced soil fertility problems in existing rice only systems (\u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice-fallow, \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice-fallow, \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice-fallow-\u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice), there is a need for developing innovative and sustainable rice-based cropping systems that can increase farmers\u0026rsquo; profitability, sustainability, and resilience in Bangladesh and South Asia as whole. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the performances of different cropping systems by incorporating non-rice crops (lentil, wheat, mungbean, mustard), short-duration rice variety, and PQR varieties in the existing rice only systems for increasing cropping systems intensification and diversification and farmers' profit. We hypothesized that inclusion of the non-rice crops and premium quality and short-duration rice cultivars in the rice only systems would increase total system productivity and profitability and improve the sustainability of crop production.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1. Experimental site and climatic conditions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eCropping systems based on-farm experiments were conducted over two years (2014/15 and 2015/16) at farmers\u0026rsquo; fields of different locations in seven villages in two adjacent districts (Jashore and Jhenaidah) of Bangladesh. All trial fields in both districts belonged to the Agro-Ecological Zone-11 (AEZ-11) High Ganges River Floodplain (HGRF). AEZ 11 predominantly has high to medium land, with 43% high land (0\u0026ndash;30 cm inundation depth), 32% medium high land (30\u0026ndash;90 cm depth), and 12% medium low land (90\u0026ndash;180 cm depth) (FRG \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). The HGRF is an area of very diverse cropping patterns (around 176 patterns), with the most dominant pattern of \u003cem\u003eboro rice\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;fallow\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice occupying 32.3% of the net cropped area (Dewan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Farmers in this area mostly cultivate long-duration \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice cultivars to receive high yields. Subbollata (around 140\u0026ndash;145 days) in \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e and Gutiswarna (145\u0026ndash;150 days) in \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e are two major cultivars dominating in this \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;fallow\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e pattern. Although these varieties generally give good yields, due to the coarse/bold type grain quality, their grain prices are relatively lower than the varieties with long and slender types with premium grain quality (CSISA \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Soils in HGRF are silty loam and silty clay loam on the upper parts of floodplain ridges and dark grey clay soils in the basins. The predominant soil types are Calcareous Dark Grey Floodplain soils and Calcareous Brown Floodplain soils. Organic matter content in the brown ridge soils is low, but higher in the dark grey soils. In general, top-soils are slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, but there has been a significant lowering of soil pH in the highlands in recent years and in some places, topsoils have become strongly acidic. Sub soils are slightly alkaline. The region belongs to the subtropical monsoon with an average rainfall of 1500 to 1650 mm of which about 90% occurs from May to October. The monthly mean minimum temperature ranges from 10.2\u0026ndash;11.3\u0026deg;C in January to 25.6\u0026ndash;26.4\u0026deg;C in July/August, while the monthly mean maximum temperature ranges from 24.6\u0026ndash;25.6\u0026deg;C in January to 35.6\u0026ndash;36.3\u0026deg;C in April. The temperature and rainfall data during the trial period are presented in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2. Experimental treatments and design\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFive rice-based cropping systems were evaluated in the farmers\u0026rsquo; field including (i) Rice-Fallow-Rice (R-F-R), (ii) Rice-Mustard-Rice (R-M-R), (iii) Rice-Lentil-Mungbean (R-L-M) (iv) Rice-Wheat-Mungbean (R-W-M) and (v) Rice-Relay Mustard-Rice (R-RM-R). In each district, the trial had 6 replications, resulting in a total of 12 replications in the study. In each district, nearby 3\u0026ndash;4 villages were selected and, in each village, cropping systems were established in five farmers' fields. Each field had one system, thus resulting in five systems in five farmers' fields, and since all five farmers' fields were together, they were considered located in a block, with a total 60 farmers\u0026rsquo; fields. The size of each farmer field was 1000\u0026ndash;1400 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e. The experimental design was a randomized complete block. The duration of each crop in a system is presented in \u003cb\u003eSupplementary Fig.\u0026nbsp;1\u003c/b\u003e. General Characteristics of cultivars used in cropping systems are presented in \u003cb\u003eSupplementary Table\u0026nbsp;1\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3. Crop management\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.1. Rice -Fallow-Rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.1.1 \u003cem\u003eAman\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeeds of the rice variety, Gutiswarna were soaked in water for about 48 hours followed by their warming by covering with rice straw to facilitate sprouting. The sprouted seeds were then broadcast at 35 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e in the nursery bed between 20 and 25 June each year. The main field was puddled by a 2WT (two-wheel tractor) before seven days of transplanting through four passes of ploughing followed by two to three laddering. Twenty to thirty days old seedlings were carefully uprooted from the seedbed and transplanted into the main field with a spacing of 20 cm \u0026times; 20 cm with 2\u0026ndash;3 seedlings. Phosphate (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), and zinc (Zn) were applied basally @15-50-10-2.2 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e through triple superphosphate (TSP), muriate of potash (MoP), gypsum, and zinc sulphate; and nitrogen (N) was applied through urea. The N fertilizer @ 90 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e was applied in three equal splits at 10\u0026ndash;15 days after transplanting (DAT), at maximum tillering (MT), and at panicle initiation (PI). Aman rice was grown as rainfed. Weeds were controlled by the pre-emergence herbicide at 2\u0026ndash;5 DAT followed by 1\u0026ndash;2 manual hand weeding. Insects and diseases were managed as and when required. Rice crop was harvested during November 15\u0026ndash;30.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.1.2 Fallow\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003erice\u003c/em\u003e-fallow-\u003cem\u003erice\u003c/em\u003e system fields remained fallow from December to January (just after \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e harvesting to \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e transplanting) and end of May to mid-July (\u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e harvesting to \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e transplanting).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.1.3 \u003cem\u003eBoro\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eRice variety, Suballata, was used and sprouted seeds were sown in the seed bed between 20 and 25 December each year. The rice field was puddled with four passes followed by 2\u0026ndash;3 laddering using a 2WT about a week before transplanting.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eForty to forty-five days old seedlings were carefully uprooted from the seedbed and transplanted into the main field with a spacing of 20 cm \u0026times; 20 cm with 2\u0026ndash;3 seedlings. P, K, S, and Zn were applied basally @15-50-10-2.2 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e TSP), MoP, gypsum, and zinc sulphate; respectively; and N was applied through urea. The N fertilizer @ 160 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e was applied in three equal splits at 15\u0026ndash;20 DAT, at MT, and at PI. The \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e crop was a completely irrigated crop and alternate wetting and drying was followed for the irrigations. The crop was harvested during May 1\u0026ndash;15.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.2. Rice -Mustard-Rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.2.1 \u003cem\u003eAman\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eRice variety, Binadhan-7, was used. 20\u0026ndash;25 days old seedlings were transplanted. Other management practices were the same as followed for a variety of Gutiswarna (section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.1.1\u003c/span\u003e). The crop was harvested during October 15\u0026ndash;30.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.2.2 Mustard\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eMustard (variety BARI Sarisha-14, duration 75\u0026ndash;80 days) was sown between 15\u0026ndash;30 October each year at 6 kg seed ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, maintaining 30 cm row spacing and 2\u0026ndash;3 cm depth. Just after \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice harvest, the land was dry till (2 passes) using a tractor-driven disc plow plough. Fertilizer was applied at the rate of 90 kg N ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as urea, 30 kg P ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as TSP, 40 kg K ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as MoP, 25 kg S ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as Gypsum, 2 kg Zn ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as zinc sulphate and 1 kg B ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as boric acid. \u0026frac12; urea and a total amount of other fertilizers were applied before seed sowing. The remaining urea was applied 20\u0026ndash;30 days after sowing (DAS). Weeds were well controlled by one or two manual hand weeding. One or two irrigation were provided either top dress application of urea or at the pod filling stage. Aphid infestation was very common in mustard that was controlled by the application of dimethoyed (Tufgor 40EC\u0026reg;, Auto Crop Care Ltd. Bangladesh) @ 1000 g a.i. ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e or any other insecticide available at the local level. Leaf blight and Alternaria blight were controlled (if affected) by the spraying of Iprodione (Rovral 50WP\u0026reg;, Auto Crop Care Ltd. Bangladesh) @ 500 g a.i. ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e or any other fungicide available at the local level. The crop was harvested between 1\u0026ndash;15 January each year.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.2.3 \u003cem\u003eBoro\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eRice variety BRRI dhan50 (155\u0026ndash;160 days duration) was used. All other management practices were similar to variety Suballata (section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec9\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.1.3\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e except seeding and transplanting and both were 10\u0026ndash;15 days late compared to Suballata. BRRI dhan50 is a premium quality rice and susceptible to blast diseases, that\u0026rsquo;s why fungicides were applied two times (one-week intervals) during the heading. The crop was harvested during 15\u0026ndash;30 May.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.3. Rice -Lentil-Mungbean\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.3.1 \u003cem\u003eAman\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariety Binadhan-7 was used and management practices were similar to section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.2.1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.3.2 Lentil\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI Masur-4, 105\u0026ndash;110 days growth duration was used. Just immediately after harvesting of Binadhan-7, the field was dry cultivated (2 passes) using a tractor-driven disc plough, applied all basal fertilizer and seeds were sown from 25 October to 1st week of November. Nitrogen was applied @20 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as urea, P 16 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as TSP, K 20 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as MoP, and S 10 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as gypsum. All the fertilizers were broadcasted during the land preparation. Seed rate was used at @ 35 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e maintaining 25 cm row spacing (manual seeding) with 3\u0026ndash;4 cm soil depth. Weeds were managed by one hand weeding at 30\u0026ndash;40 DAS. No irrigation was provided. Foot rot and stemphylium blight diseases were very common for lentil and they were managed by the spraying of fungicide carbendazim at the rate of 500 g a.i. ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e (Autostin 50 WDG\u0026reg;, Auto Crop Care Ltd. Bangladesh). The crops were harvested during 15\u0026ndash;25 February each year.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.3.3 Mungbean\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI Mung-6, 60\u0026ndash;65 days duration was used. Just after harvesting of lentil the field was dry cultivated (2 passes) using tractor-driven disc plough, applied fertilizer and the seeds of Mungbean were broadcasted around 1\u0026ndash;15 March. The seeds were sown manually at the rate of 40 kg seed ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e with a row spacing of 30 cm with 2\u0026ndash;3 cm soil depth. The fertilizers were applied @ 20, 20 and 30 kg of N, P, and K ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as a form of urea, TSP and MoP, respectively. Weeds were well controlled by one hand weeding around 30\u0026ndash;40 DAS. The pod borer infestation was very common in Mungbean and it was controlled by spraying of insecticide deltamethron @ 12.5 g a.i. ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e (Desis 2.5 EC\u0026reg;, Bayer Crop Science, Bangladesh). The crop was harvested around 15\u0026ndash;30 May each year.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.4. Rice -Wheat-Mungbean\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.4.1 A\u003cem\u003eman\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariety Binadhan-7 was used and management practices were similar to section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.2.1\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.4.2 Wheat\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI gom 26, 105\u0026ndash;110 days growth duration was used. Just after harvesting of Binadhan-7 the field was dry cultivated (2 passes) using a tractor-driven disc plough, applied fertilizer and the seeds of wheat were broadcasted around 10\u0026ndash;20 November each year. Seeds were broadcasted manually with @ 120 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e at a sowing depth of 3\u0026ndash;5 cm. Fertilizers N, P, K, S and B were applied @ 90, 25, 50, 25, and 2 kg, respectively, as a form of urea, triple super phosphate, muriate of potash, gypsum, and boric acid. Just before wheat sowing, two-thirds of the N, as well as all the P, K, S, and B, were applied, and the remaining N was applied before the first irrigation. During each season, the wheat was irrigated 2\u0026ndash;3 times: immediately after sowing, tillering stage or and during the grain filling stage. Weeds were managed by one manual hand weeding around 25\u0026ndash;40 DAS. The crop was harvested around 1\u0026ndash;15 March.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.4.3 Mungbean\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI Mung-5 was used and management practices were almost similar to section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec17\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.3.3\u003c/span\u003e except the sowing date was delayed to 10\u0026ndash;15 days. In this pattern, mungbean crop seeds were sown around 10\u0026ndash;25 March and harvested end of May to 2nd week of June.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.5. Rice -Relay Mustard-Rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.5.1 \u003cem\u003eAman\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan34 with 130\u0026ndash;135 day growth duration was used. Land preparation was similar to other \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice varieties (section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.1.1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e).\u003c/b\u003e The BRRI dhan34 used slightly less fertilizer (according to BRRI recommendation) than other aman varieties used in this study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNutrients P, K, S, and Zn were applied as a basal @ 10-30-10-2 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e in the form of TSP, MoP, gypsum, and zinc sulphate, respectively. The N fertilizer at the rate of 60 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e was applied in two equal splits at 20\u0026ndash;25 DAT and at MT. This variety has photosensitivity that\u0026rsquo;s why seeding and transplanting were done slightly later than other \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e varieties. For this variety, seeding was done around 10\u0026ndash;20 July and transplanting around 1\u0026ndash;10 August. BRRI dhan34 is an aromatic small grain fine rice and highly susceptible to blast diseases, that\u0026rsquo;s why fungicides were applied two times (one-week intervals) during the heading to control neck blast. The crop was harvested from late November to early December each year.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec24\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.5.2 Relay mustard\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTori-7, 70\u0026ndash;80 days growth duration mustard variety was used. Overnight primed mustard seeds at the rate of 6 kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e were broadcasted into the stand \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice crop just two weeks before the harvesting of crop (November 10\u0026ndash;20 each year). Immediately after harvesting of aman rice (variety BRRI dhan34), all fertilizers were applied @ 90 kg N ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as urea, 30 kg P ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as TSP, 40 kg K ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as MoP, 25 kg S ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as Gypsum, 2 kg Zn ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as zinc sulphate and 1 kg B ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e as boric acid. No weeding and no irrigation were required for the crop. The disease and insect management practices were the same as in section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec12\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.2.2\u003c/span\u003e. The crops are typically harvested during the first and second weeks of February each year.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec25\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.5.3 \u003cem\u003eBoro\u003c/em\u003e rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariety BRRI dhan50 was used and management practices were similar to section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec13\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2.3.2.3\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec26\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4. Crop monitoring and data collection\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe research team carefully monitored the farmers' participation in this cropping system trial. All the management practices were carried out by the farmers with the advice of the research team to ensure uniformity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec27\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4.1. Input cost data\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAll costs involved to crops (seed to harvest) were recorded either directly or by farmers interviewed. Major crop inputs were seed, land preparation, fertilizer, irrigation, pesticides, labor costs for seeding, transplanting, intercultural operation, and harvesting.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec28\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4.2. Crop phenology\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring the growing season of each crop, phenology data were recorded through frequent monitoring of the crop. Growth duration was calculated from sowing to harvest.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec29\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4.3. Crop yield\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAt the maturity stage, the grain yield of each crop was measured from the randomly selected three quadrates, each with an area of 15 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e (5 m \u0026times; 3 m). Grains were manually threshed and fresh grain weight was measured using a digital balance with simultaneous measurement of grain moisture content. Finally, grain yield of all crops was adjusted to t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e at 12% (wheat), 14% (rice), and 10% (mungbean and mustard) moisture level. At the time of grain yield measurement, fresh straw/stover yield of each crop was also measured and sub-samples (100 g) were taken to oven dry. Finally, straw/stover yield was converted to oven-dry weight.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec30\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.5 Rice equivalent yield (REY) and systems rice equivalent yield (SREY)\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe rice equivalent yield (REY) of lentil, mungbean, wheat and mustard were calculated s:\u003cdiv id=\"Equa\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equa\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:\\text{R}\\text{E}\\text{Y}\\:\\left(\\text{C}\\text{r}\\text{o}\\text{p}\\:{\\prime\\:}\\text{x}{\\prime\\:}\\right)=Yx\\:\\left(\\frac{Px}{Pr}\\right)$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhere, Y\u003csub\u003e \u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/sub\u003e is the crop yield of \u0026lsquo;x\u0026rsquo;, P\u003csub\u003e \u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/sub\u003e is the price of crop \u0026lsquo;x\u0026rsquo; and P\u003csub\u003e \u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/sub\u003e is the price of rice (Biswas et al. 2006). The price of rice, wheat, lentil, mungbean and mustard were considered from the farm gate price of the respected area in BDT (Bangladeshi taka), which were converted to US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e using 1 US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e=84.26 BDT. The SREY was calculated by the sum of the yield (rice grain yield and for mustard/wheat/lentil/mungbean REY) of all three crops in a sequence in a cropping year.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec31\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.6 System production efficiency\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem production efficiency (kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e d\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) was calculated from the sum of the total production (yield) in a cropping system divided by the total duration of used crop in the cropping system (Tomer and Tiwari, 1990) as:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eProduction efficiency\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026sum;yi/\u0026sum;di\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhere yi is the yield of i\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e crop, di is the crop duration of the i\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e crop.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec32\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.7 System land use efficiency\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem land use efficiency (%) was calculated from the total duration of crop a cropping system divided by a year (365 days) as described by Tomer and Tiwari, (1990) as:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLand use efficiency = (\u0026sum;di/365)\u0026times;100\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhere di is the duration of the i\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e crop.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec33\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.8 System protein output\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem protein output from the cropping system was calculated from the total output of the protein from the grain of each crop used in the cropping system trial using the formula:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eProtein output (kg ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;protein (%)\u0026times;dry grain yield (t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026times;1000/100\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe protein content of rice, wheat, lentil, mungbean, and mustard were considered as 8.8, 12.1, 25, 20.9 and 27.6%, respectively (Timsina and Humphreys \u003cspan citationid=\"CR72\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e; BARI \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Hossain et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec34\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.9 System energy output\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem energy output was calculated from the sum of the energy output (grain and straw/stover) used in the cropping system considering the energy content of rice grain, rice straw, mustard grain, mustard stover, wheat grain, wheat straw, lentil grain, lentil stover, mungbean grain, mungbean stover 14.7, 15.6, 22.7, 12.5, 14.7, 15.8, 14.4, 12,5, 15.5 and 12.5 MJ kg\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, respectively (Khan and Hossain \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e; Yadav et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR80\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec35\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.10 System profitability\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem profitability (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e d\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) was calculated by the total system net return (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e) of a cropping system divided by 365 days.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec36\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.11 Sustainable yield index\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe sustainable yield index (SYI) is an index that evaluates the efficiency of crop production systems by comparing the actual productivity achieved with the maximum yield (Wanjari et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR77\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e). It was calculated as:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSYI= (Y\u003cem\u003emean\u003c/em\u003e -SD)/Y\u003cem\u003emax\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhere, Y\u003cem\u003emean\u003c/em\u003e is the mean yield of the respective cropping system, Y\u003cem\u003emax\u003c/em\u003e is the system maximum yield under a set of treatments and SD is the standard deviation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec37\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.12 Economics\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe total variable costs were calculated from the required operational costs in the experiment including land preparation, fertilizers, seed sowing and seedling preparation, transplanting, irrigation, pesticides, harvesting, threshing, and cleaning, etc. All the costs in Bangladeshi taka were converted to US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e considering an exchange rate of 1 US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e=84.26 BDT. The gross return was calculated from the grain and straw yield and their price. The farmgate prices of each crop in each year was considered in this calculation. Straw/stover prices were considered from its local level price. Net return was determined from the difference of gross return and total cost of production. Benefit-cost ratio (BCR) was calculated from gross return divided by total cost. Cropping system performance was determined from the total of each crop used in the specific cropping system.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec38\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.13 Weather data\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe weather data (temperatures and rainfall) of the trial site during the experimental period were collected from the Bangladesh Metrological Department (BMD) local station.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec39\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.14 Statistical analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe recorded and calculated data were subjected to the homogeneity and normality tests prior to the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The data's homogeneity and normality conditions were satisfied for running further ANOVA. Analyses were performed using the statistical software JMP 17 (JMP 13.0.0, SAS Institute Inc.). A generalized linear model was applied to determine the cropping system effects on the experimental variables within each farmer\u0026rsquo;s (replication) field. Replicates were considered as a random factor. Means were separated using Tukey\u0026rsquo;s honestly significant difference test at the 5% probability level. The combined analysis of years was significant but not different for the two sites, therefore, the data and results were presented year-wise and combined for sites.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec41\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1. Crop duration\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn R-F-R cropping systems, the \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice cultivar, Gutiswarna, which was used in \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e, had the duration ranging from 143 to 150 days, while for the \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e cultivar, Suballota, it ranged from 141 to 147 days \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. In R-M-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M, however, the duration of \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e variety Binadhan-7, ranged from 111\u0026ndash;118 days. In R-RM-R system, the duration of \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice cultivar, BRRI dhan34, ranged from 134\u0026ndash;141 days. In R-M-R and R-RM-R systems, the crop duration of BRRI dhan50 ranged from 149\u0026ndash;156 days. The crop duration of mustard cultivar, BARI sorisha14, in R-M-R systems ranged from 73\u0026ndash;80 days and cultivar Tori-7 in R-RM-R systems was 66\u0026ndash;72 days. The wheat cultivar, BARI gom-26, in R-W-M systems, ranged from 107\u0026ndash;113 days. In R-L-M and R-W-M systems, the crop duration of Mungbean cultivar, BARI Mung-6, ranged from 59\u0026ndash;66 days. In R-L-M systems, the crop duration of lentil cultivar, BARI masur-4, ranged from 109\u0026ndash;115 days.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCultivar-wise crop duration, grain yield, and straw/stover yield in different cropping systems\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeason\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCultivar\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eParameters\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCropping systems\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCrop duration (days)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrain yield (t/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStraw/Stover yield (t/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"4\" rowspan=\"5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAman 2014\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGutiswarna\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e147\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;3.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.20\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.13\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBinadhan-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e115\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.83\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.93\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e113\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.56\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.81\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e114\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.95\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.13\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e139\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.19\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.34\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"4\" rowspan=\"5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAman 2015\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGutiswarna\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e145\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.16\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.59\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBinadhan-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e117\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.09\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.23\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e115\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.80\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.25\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e114\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.62\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.62\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e137\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;3.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.36\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.69\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBoro 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSuballota\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e145\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.27\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.20\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e154\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.92\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.86\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e152\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.93\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBoro 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSuballota\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e143\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.18\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e153\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.08\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.59\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e151\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.12\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.30\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMustard 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI sorisha14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.60\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.09\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.99\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTori-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.07\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.16\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.09\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMustard 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI sorisha14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.53\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.48\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTori-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e71\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.13\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.77\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWheat 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI gom26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e109\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.89\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.59\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.44\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWheat 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI gom26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e112\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.67\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.48\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMungbean 2015\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.37\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.21\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.29\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.58\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMungbean 2016\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e61\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.30\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.16\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.39\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.79\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLentil 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI masur4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e113\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.86\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.49\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLentil 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI masur4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e110\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;3.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.68\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.10\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"6\"\u003eR-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Values in the columns are the mean of the replication\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;standard errors.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec42\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2. Grain yield\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn R-F-R cropping systems, the rice grain yield of \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice cultivar, Gutiswarna, ranged from 5.03\u0026ndash;5.48 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, while \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e cultivar, Suballota, ranged from 5.98\u0026ndash;6.52 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e).\u003c/b\u003e In R-M-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M cropping systems the yield of Binadhan-7 ranged from 4.41\u0026ndash;5.29 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. In R-RM-R systems, the grain yield of BRRI dhan34 ranged from 3.07\u0026ndash;3.52 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. In R-M-R and R-RM-R systems, the grain yield of BRRI dhan50 ranged from 5.55\u0026ndash;6.45 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The grain yield of mustard cultivar, BARI sorisha-14, in R-M-R systems was 1.44\u0026ndash;1.69 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, and cultivar Tori-7 in R-RM-R systems was 1.02\u0026ndash;1.24 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The grain yield of wheat cultivar, BARI gom-26, in R-W-M systems ranged from 3.51\u0026ndash;4.01 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. In R-L-M and R-W-M systems, the grain yield of the Mungbean cultivar, BARI Mung-6, ranged from 1.20\u0026ndash;1.47 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. In R-L-M systems, the grain yield of lentil cultivar, BARI Masur-4, ranged from 1.58\u0026ndash;1.96 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec43\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3. Straw/ Stover yield\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e, the straw yield of Gutiswarna, Binadhan-7, and BRRI dhan34, varied from 5.95\u0026ndash;6.81, 4.86\u0026ndash;6.04, and 3.96\u0026ndash;5.03 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e respectively, while in \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e, it was 6.05\u0026ndash;7.86 and 5.60\u0026ndash;6.72 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e for Suballota and BRRI dhan50 \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e).\u003c/b\u003e The stover yield of mustard ranged from 1.92\u0026ndash;3.63 and 1.12\u0026ndash;1.90 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, respectively for BARI Sarisha-14 and Tori. The straw yield of wheat varied from 4.42\u0026ndash;4.71 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The stover yield of mungeben and lentils varied from 2.11\u0026ndash;3.03 and 1.97\u0026ndash;2.68 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec44\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.4. Crop wise economics\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe total variable cost for rice in \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e season did not vary much for the two varieties (BRRI dhan50 vs Suballota) \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e).\u003c/b\u003e But in \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e season, it was 8\u0026ndash;12% and 4\u0026ndash;7% higher for Gutisworna than for Binadhan-7 and BRRI dhan34, respectively. For mustard, the total variable cost was 20\u0026ndash;25% higher for BARI Sarisha-14 than Tori. The wheat and lentil growing period was almost the same, but wheat production cost was 15\u0026ndash;20% higher than the lentil \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e).\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCultivar-wise total variable cost, net return, and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in different cropping systems (1 US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e=84.26 BDT)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeason\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCultivar\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eParameters\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCropping systems\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGross return (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal variable cost (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNet return (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBCR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"4\" rowspan=\"5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAman 2014\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGutiswarna\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1235\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e907\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e328\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.37\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBinadhan-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1158\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e829\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;47\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e329\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.39\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1116\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e815\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e300\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.37\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1176\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;99\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e818\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e357\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.43\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1222\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e884\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e338\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.46\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"4\" rowspan=\"5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAman 2015\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGutiswarna\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1373\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;94\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e911\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e462\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.51\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBinadhan-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1295\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;80\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e838\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e467\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.55\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1274\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;72\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e842\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;44\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e433\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.54\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1254\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e829\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;51\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e425\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;49\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.52\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1360\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;62\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e859\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e501\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.60\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBoro 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSuballota\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1706\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;68\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1222\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e484\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.41\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2020\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;93\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1220\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e800\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.68\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2011\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;111\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1248\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;61\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e763\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;62\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.61\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBoro 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSuballota\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-F-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1830\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1182\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e649\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.55\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBRRI dhan50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2088\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;122\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1235\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;49\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e853\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.70\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1910\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1188\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e722\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;51\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.61\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.09\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMustard 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI sorisha14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e997\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e418\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e579\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.40\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTori-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e652\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e327\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e355\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.99\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMustard 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI sorisha14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-M-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e980\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;80\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e422\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e559\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.42\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTori-7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e733\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e343\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e390\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.13\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWheat 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI Gom26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e980\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;70\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e630\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e350\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.58\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.09\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWheat 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI Gom26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1033\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e606\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e427\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.72\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMungbean 2015\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e750\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e517\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e233\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.46\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e706\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;87\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e555\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e151\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.27\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMungbean 2016\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e929\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;92\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e537\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;72\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e392\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.74\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI mung6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-W-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e992\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;130\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e614\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;68\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e378\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;61\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.61\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLentil 2014/15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI masur4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1575\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;86\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e536\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1040\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.95\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLentil 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBARI masur4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR-L-M\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1496\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;106\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e516\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e980\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.90\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"7\"\u003eR-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Values in the columns are the mean of the replication\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;standard errors.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e season, the total gross return was almost similar for Gutiswarna and BRRI dhan34, which was 6\u0026ndash;10% higher than for Binadhan-7 \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. In \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e season, the gross return was 15\u0026ndash;20% higher for BRRI dhan50 compared to Suballota. The gross return for mustard was 25\u0026ndash;35% higher for BARI sorisha14 than Tori. Compared to wheat, the gross return of lentil was 35\u0026ndash;40% higher.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe net return in the second \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e season was much higher for all cultivars compared to the first season due to higher rice prices. In the first season, the net return was almost similar for all the varieties but in the second season, Gutiswarna and Binadhan-7 had similar net returns which were 7\u0026ndash;15% lower than for BRRI dhan34. In both boro seasons, the net return of BRRI dhan50 was 20\u0026ndash;35% higher than for Suballota. The net return for mustard was 30\u0026ndash;40% higher for BARI sorisha-14 than Tori. Among non-rice crops, lentils consistently had a higher net return, ranging from 40\u0026ndash;65% more than mustard and wheat sowing during the same period. The BCR ranged from 1.25\u0026ndash;1.80, 1.80\u0026ndash;2.55, 1.50\u0026ndash;1.80, 1.10\u0026ndash;1.80, and 2.70\u0026ndash;3.10 for rice, mustard, wheat, mungbean and lentil, respectively \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec45\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.5. System REY and duration\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe highest REY (14.1\u0026ndash;14.4 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) was recorded from R-M-R which was similar to R-RM-R in 2015/16 but not in 2014/15 \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eFig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e).\u003c/b\u003e The lowest REY (11.2\u0026ndash;11.4 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) was recorded from R-F-R which was similar to R-W-M in both seasons. The intermediate REY (12.5\u0026ndash;12.7 t ha\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) was recorded from R-L-M, which was similar to that for R-RM-R. The system's crop duration was influenced by the different cropping systems. R-M-R required the longest duration, ranging from 344 to 347 days, which was comparable to that for R-RM-R \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. On the other hand, R-F-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M had similar crop duration and were significantly shorter than those of the R-M-R and R-RM-R systems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEffect of different cropping systems on system crop duration, gross return, total variable cost, total net return, and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in 2014/15 and 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCropping systems\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem duration (day)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem gross return (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem total variable cost (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem total net return (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem BCR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2014/15\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-F-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e296 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2924 e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2126 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e798 d\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.38 d\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-M-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e347 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4140 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2498 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1610 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.65 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-L-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e291 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3421 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1859 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1527 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.83 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-W-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e287 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3143 d\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2058 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1065 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.52 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e334 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3892 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2454 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1405 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.58 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2015/16\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-F-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e291 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3249 d\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2106 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1145 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.55 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-M-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e344 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4361 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2499 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1879 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.76 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-L-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e287 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3734 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1874 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1860 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.99 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-W-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e288 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3261 d\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2032 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1232 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.60 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e339 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4032 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2396 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1625 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.69 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"6\"\u003eR-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Different lowercase letters within the column indicates significant differences.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec46\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.6 System economics\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn both years, the highest gross return was found from R-M-R followed by R-RM-R and R-L-M \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. The lowest gross return was found from R-F-R which was 25\u0026ndash;30%, 20\u0026ndash;25%, and 15\u0026ndash;20% lower than the three top cropping systems R-M-R, R-RM-R, and R-L-M, respectively. In 2015/16, the gross return of R-F-R was similar to that of R-W-M. However, in 2014/15, R-W-M had a significantly higher gross return than R-F-R. The highest production cost (variable) was for R-M-R and R-RM-R and was similar in both years \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. The lowest variable cost was for R-L-M. R-F-R and R-W-M had similar production costs. R-M-R had the highest net return which was at par with the systems R-L-M in both seasons and R-RM-R in 2015/16. The lowest net return was found for R-F-R and was similar to R-W-M in 2015/16 but significantly lower in 2014/15. R-L-M always had a higher BCR (1.83\u0026ndash;1.99) than the other cropping systems. R-M-R and R-RM-R had a similar BCR. The lowest BCR (1.38\u0026ndash;1.55) was found for R-F-R.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec47\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.7. System productivity, profitability, and sustainability\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn both years, the system's production efficiency, land use efficiency, system's protein and energy output, system profitability, and sustainable yield index were higher for R-M-R \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. R-RM-R had significantly lower systems production efficiency than for R-M-R but similar to R-L-M in both years and R-W-M in 2015/16. The lowest production efficiency was for R-F-R. R-RM-R exhibited similar land use efficiency as R-M-R, but the other three systems demonstrated significantly lower efficiency compared to R-M-R and R-RM-R. The system protein output was similar for R-RM-R, R-L-M, and R-W-M which were significantly lower than for R-M-R but higher than for R-F-R \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. The systems energy output trend was R-M-R\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-F-R\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-RM-R\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-W-M\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-L-M. R-RM-R and R-L-M had similar systems profitability to R-M-R which was significantly higher than for R-F-R and R-L-M. The lowest profitability was found for R-F-R. The systems sustainable yield index trend was R-M-R\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-RM-R\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-L-M\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-F-R\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;R-W-M \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEffect of different cropping systems on system production efficiency, land use efficiency, system protein output, system energy output, and system profitability in 2014/15 and 2015/16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCropping systems\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProduction efficiency (kg/ha/d)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLand use efficiency (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem protein output (kg/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem energy output (GJ/ha)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem profitability (US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e/ha/d)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSustainable yield index (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2014/15\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-F-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31.2 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81.1 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1008 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e362 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.18 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.80 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-M-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e38.5 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e95.0 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1320 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e391 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.41 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.85 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-L-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.8 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e79.7 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1177 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e247 d\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.18 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.82 ab\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-W-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.3 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78.6 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1175 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e345 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.91 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.77 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.9 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e96.5 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1123 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e336 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.85 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.82 ab\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2015/16\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-F-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.7 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e79.7 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e986 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e361 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.13 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.78 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-M-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39.6 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e95.3 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1374 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e397 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.14 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.84 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-L-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.2 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78.6 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1144 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e251 d\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.09 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.81 ab\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-W-M\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.7 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78.9 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1137 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e338 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.37 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.75 c\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR-RM-R\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35.1 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e98.5 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1172 b\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e357 bc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.45 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.83 a\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"7\"\u003eR-F-R: rice-fellow-rice; R-M-R: rice-mustard-rice; R-L-M: rice-lentil-mungbean; R-W-M: rice-wheat-mungbean; R-RM-R: rice-relay mustard-rice. Different lowercase letters within the column indicate significant differences.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec48\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.8. Multi-criteria assessment of different cropping systems\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe holistic multi-criteria assessment of system yield, economics, production and land use efficiency, protein and energy output, profitability, and sustainable yield index comparing the five cropping systems using the radial or spider diagrams showed productivity, profitability, and land use efficiency of all intensive cropping systems performed better than the currently dominant R-F-R \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eFig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. Except for R-W-M, all other cropping systems had a better sustainable yield index than R-F-R.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec50\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.1 Profitability and sustainability of rice-fallow-rice cropping system\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAll intensive cropping systems in the current study were profitable than the currently dominant R-F-R system in Bangladesh. In general, this system R-F-R covered around 27% of the net cropped area of Bangladesh (Nasim et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). However, in some areas (districts), the coverage of this system exceeds 50%, such as in Sherpur 69%, Mymensingh 65%, Gaibandha 65%, Kurigram 56%, Nilphamari 54%, and Dinajpur 50% (Nasim et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Even in Jashore, where the trials were conducted and the district has a higher cropping intensity compared to other parts of the country. R-F-R covered around 43% of the area (Dewan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn many previous studies, it has been reported that the profitability and sustainability of R-F-R faces significant challenges (Mainuddin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Emran et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). These challenges include increasing labor and input costs, lowering of ground water table, damaging soil structure, reducing aeration and water holding capacity and creating hard pan in the subsoil, unpredictable rainfall due to climate change, natural calamities, drought, salinity, heat stress, rice price volatility, and transformation of the food system (Shamsudduha et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR62\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e; Nawaz et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). In R-F-R, the dominant \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e variety Gutiswarna has long duration and has poor (bold size) grain quality, the later receiving lower market price than other premium quality or fine grain varieties (Custodio et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Rahman et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR58\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Despite lower price, farmers prefer this variety due to its higher adaptability to different biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, disease, insects, and lodging (Iqbal et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) and higher straw production. In Bangladesh, farmers store \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice straw for year-round feeding purposes mostly for cattle (Hossain \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Praveen et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Harvesting time of \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice occurs during the rainy season; hence farmers often struggle to preserve the \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e straw. In contrast, \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice is harvested during the dry season, making it easier for farmers to preserve good quality straw.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFarmers mostly follow the R-F-R pattern in the medium land and medium-high land, which are generally suitable for year-round crop production. For the increasing population and food systems transformation Bangladesh needs to produce more and diversify foods which is possible only through crop intensification and diversification (Nasim et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), the best options for which are the lands currently occupied by the R-F-R system. In our study, the R-F-R system was inferior to other intensive and diversified cropping systems in terms of yield, net return, BCR, production and land use efficiency, protein output, and system profitability indicating that R-F-R is less profitable than the others \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eFig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. The sustainability of crop production depends on many factors such as soil health and fertility management by using organic manure, integrated pest management, use of pesticides, food safety and quality, biodiversity, climate adaptation, energy use, and socio-economic factors (C\u0026aacute;rceles Rodr\u0026iacute;guez et al. 2022; Grover et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Considering all these factors, it is evident that the the R-F-R system, where intensive wet tillage is practiced and almost no residue is added, is less sustainable compared to other systems where crop diversification options are implemented (Alam et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). In our study, we calculated the sustainable yield index (SYI) based on the yield data and found that all the systems, except the R-W-M cropping system, had higher SYI than the R-F-R system.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec51\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.2 Crop intensification and diversification for sustainable production\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough Bangladesh has nearly achieved self-sufficiency in rice production, it still faces significant challenges in ensuring food security due to its high population, dietary changes, and limited potential for expanding cropland (Timsina et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR74\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Jamal et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, increasing cropping intensity by the inclusion of diversified crops is the most potential option to increase the system productivity, and boost food and nutrition security.Reckling et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR60\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) reported that crop intensification and diversification not only increase the system productivity but also an effective strategy for poverty alleviation through employment generation, judicious use of land and water resources, and sustainable crop production by improving the cropping environment. In addition, crop diversification helps better use of available resources (land, labor, and water), reducing the risks of crop and market failures, and regular returns for the farmer (Feliciano \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, the type of crops considered in the cropping sequence is very important in crop diversification. In Bangladesh, different non-rice crops such as maize, potato, wheat, jute, pulses, vegetables, oil seed, and fiber crops are usually grown in sequence with rice in rice-non rice cropping patterns (Nasim et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Timsina et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR74\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). In the current study, we evaluated mustard, lentil, wheat and mungbean to test their suitability in different intensive cropping systems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe found all intensive cropping systems (R-M-R, R-L-M, R-W-M, and R-RM-R) in the current study had higher system profitability than the R-F-R system which was mainly due to higher system REY, higher gross and net return, and higher BCR \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTables\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e; \u003cb\u003eand\u003c/b\u003e Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCompared to R-F-R, R-M-R and R-RM-R required 15\u0026ndash;20% higher production cost but the R-L-M and R-W-M had 5\u0026ndash;12% lower production cost. It was mainly due to rice-non rice systems where we replaced \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e with two non-rice crops but in R-M-R and R-RM-R we added mustard between two rices. In Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, we can see that the cumulative production cost of two non-rice crops was even lower than that of the single \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice. In Bangladesh, \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e is grown under irrigated condition, and hence its production cost is very high due to higher input requirements (labor, water, fuel, tillage, etc.) and higher labor prices during the peak operations of transplanting and harvesting (Ahmed et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Mainuddin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Compared to \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e, other non-rice crops require less tillage, labor, irrigation, and inputs during the growing period, significantly reducing the overall production cost. The main method used for establishing \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice is puddling followed by transplanting, which requires a large amount of labor and water. An alternative method of establishing rice, known as direct seeded rice, though is less resource demanding and profitable, it is not feasible during the \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e season due to low temperatures and the unavailability of cold-tolerant varieties (Ahmed et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). If it's possible to establish \u003cem\u003eboro rcie\u003c/em\u003e using direct seeding, it can save a huge amount of labor and water. The production cost of R-M-R and R-RM-R was similar because both systems used the same \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice variety (BRRI dhan50). In the R-RM-R system, there was a slightly lower cost for the relay mustard due to no need for tillage and fewer inputs compared to the tilled mustard in the R-M-R system. However, there was a slightly higher cost for \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice in the R-RM-R system. In \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e, In R-RM-R, rice variety used in \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e was BRRI dhan34 (135\u0026ndash;140 days duration), while in R-M-R, it was Binadhan-7 (110\u0026ndash;120 days).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eAman\u003c/em\u003e rice is the major driver for crop intensification and diversification in Bangladesh because non-rice crop production in \u003cem\u003erabi\u003c/em\u003e/\u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e season depends entirely on the timely planting and harvesting of \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e (Alam et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). The optimal sowing period for most non-rice crops is from the end of October to mid-November (BARI \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Planting after this window may result in significantly reduced yields (Howlader et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). On the other hand, during the \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e season (June to October) non-rice crops are usually not possible due to frequent rain and wet/flood conditions. Therefore, the best option for crop intensification and diversification is to utilize the \u003cem\u003erabi/boro\u003c/em\u003e season (November to May). In the R-F-R system, farmers currently use long-duration \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e varieties (140\u0026ndash;150 days), which are the main obstacles for growing subsequent non-rice crops. It is reported that there is a significant decrease in yield of late-sown \u003cem\u003erabi\u003c/em\u003e (non-rice) crops when they are planted late due to the late harvest of \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice (Khan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Howlader et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn Bangladesh, when farmers use long-duration \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice varieties, sowing of mustard gets late, resulting in reduced yields. This is because in conventional tillage system, fields need to be dried out sufficiently to allow power tillers to till the land and hence this would delay sowing the mustard seeds after the rice crop had been harvested. Rahman et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e) reported yield of mustard reduced gradually by 11.7, 21.5, 43.4, and 62.9%, respectively for each week of delayed sowing after 2nd November. To overcome the issue in the R-RM-R cropping system, we planted mustard (specifically, the short-duration mustard variety, \u003cem\u003eTori\u003c/em\u003e) as a relay crop. In R-L-M and R-W-M, we used a short-duration \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e variety which fitted well with the sequence.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelay cropping (a special version of double cropping, where the second crop is planted into the first crop before harvesting, rather than waiting until after harvest) of mustard with \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice could be a good option in the existing rice-rice cropping system, which could increase the system productivity as well as crop intensification. In the relay cropping system, at least 15 days is saved which is vital if the mustard crop is to be harvested before the optimal time for \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice transplanting. Implementing the relay cropping of mustard in moist soil before the \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e harvest can help reduce the cost of land preparation and allow for timely planting of mustard and \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e, even after using a medium to long-duration \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e variety (Tanveer et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR70\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Lamichhane et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHigher protein output in all intensified cropping systems in our study indicates that crop intensification and diversification may help enhance nutrition security. Our results support the findings ofAlam et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) who revealed that the addition of a high-protein crop, mungbean, to the cropping system led to a 3% increase in overall system protein output when it was intensified from a double (rice-fallow-rice) to a triple (wheat-mungbean-rice) crops rotation. In a long-term study conducted in Saskatchewan, Canada from 2004 to 2015, cropping system intensification from wheat-wheat (double) to wheat-canola-wheat-field pea (four crops) system increased the system protein output by 56% (St. Luce et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR69\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). In a different study,Sharma et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR63\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e) demonstrated that, in comparison to the rice-wheat cropping system in India, the system protein output had increased by 30\u0026ndash;46% in the rice\u0026ndash;potato\u0026ndash;mungbean and 19\u0026ndash;26% in the rice\u0026ndash;rapeseed\u0026ndash;mungbean cropping systems. The difference in system protein output between cropping systems because of different crops being included in crop sequences that produced different proteins. Despite the lower system yield and profitability of the R-F-R system, the total energy output in this system was higher than the R-L-M and R-W-M systems, mainly due to higher total biomass production \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e. The crop energy output depends on various factors such as crop type, climate conditions, soil fertility, management practices, the availability of water and sunlight, and post-harvest processing (Elsoragaby et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Kargwal et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Vijayakumar et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR76\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). The lower SYI in the R-W-M was associated with the higher yield variability of both wheat and mungbean. Due to higher climatic variability (reducing the cold period and increasing the temperature) and disease infestation, the wheat area and production in Bangladesh is decreasing day by day (Hasan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; BBS \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec52\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.3 Premium quality rice for higher profit\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eBoro\u003c/em\u003e rice is the major share (around 55%) of total rice production in Bangladesh. However, its production becoming less profitable day by day due to higher input requirements, high irrigation water, and increased labor prices during the season (Mainuddin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Even though cultivating \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice is less profitable, farmers are unwilling to give it up because of its importance for food security in Bangladesh. On the other hand, \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice, which is cultivated during the wet season, often faces natural challenges such as floods, terminal droughts, and storms but remains an important crop for food security. The main issue in \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice is how farmers can make it more profitable. One of the options to make it more profitable is to cultivate high-value and high-demand premium-quality rice. The market price of premium quality rice is generally 20\u0026ndash;50% higher than other coarse or bold grain rice (CSISA \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Kubitza et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDue to changes in consumer preferences, the demand for premium-quality rice is increasing (Mottaleb et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). In our study, we hypothesized that if farmers cultivate premium quality rice instead of bold or medium bold grain rice, they can generate more profit due to higher prices, while incurring similar production costs. In Bangladesh, premium-quality rice such as BRRI dhan34, Kalozera, and Chinigura, etc. are mostly cultivated in the \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e season in certain areas, but not in the \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e season. Recently Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and other organizations developed some premium quality rice varieties for the \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e season. In our study, we tested the modern premium quality rice variety BRRI dhan50 in the \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e season for both R-M-R and R-RM-R systems and the traditional premium quality variety BRRI dhan34 in \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e for R-RM-R system. BRRI dhan34 yield was lower than that of Binadhan-7 used in the R-M-R system. However, due to the much higher paddy price, the gross return from BRRI dhan34 was higher than from Binadhan-7 \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e).\u003c/b\u003e During our study period, we found 10\u0026ndash;30% and 30\u0026ndash;50% higher farmgate prices of \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e varieties, respectively compared to other medium/bold grain varieties in the same season. Due to the higher market prices of premium quality rice in R-M-R and R-RM-R, both these systems were more profitable than the other cropping systems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003eOur study aimed to evaluate the most profitable and sustainable cropping systems compared to the most dominant cropping system, R-F-R, in Bangladesh. We explored potential non-rice crops for the trials location and different duration rice varieties to diversify and intensify the current cropping system. Considering the lower profitability of rice production, we tested premium quality rice varieties for higher profit. To adjust the long duration premium quality rice variety in the intensive system we tested the relayed musted with \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice. To address soil fertility maintenance in intensive cropping, we incorporated pulses such as lentils and mungbean into the cropping system. The results of this study revealed that all the intensive and diversified cropping systems performed better than the R-F-R system in terms of productivity, profitability, and land use efficiency. Except the SYI in the R-W-M system and energy output in the R-L-M system, other outputs such as gross and net returns, BCR, production efficiency, and protein output in all the intensive cropping systems were better than in the R-F-R system. Our study suggests that in the dominant R-F-R cropping system, farmers in the High Ganges River Floodplain areas can follow short-duration \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice (either premium or coarse grain) followed by tilled mustard, followed by premium quality \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice or long-duration premium quality \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice, followed by relay mustard followed by premium quality \u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice. On the other hand, in the non-rice dominant systems, farmers can follow \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice (short duration) followed by lentil followed by mungbean. The R-M-R cropping system is emerging as an alternative to the R-F-R cropping system, because of relatively higher price of mustard in recent times and the government's priority to reduce oil imports. Additional research on further improving the cropping system performance through intensification and diversification of short-duration crops and varieties is required. The major limitation of our study is our inability to analyze the changes in soil physical and biochemical parameters resulting from the practice of different intensive and diversified cropping systems. The study suggested that farmers in the High Ganges River Floodplain areas can adopt short-duration \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice-mustard-\u003cem\u003eboro\u003c/em\u003e rice or long-duration \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice-relay mustard-boro rice in the rice only dominant cropping systems, or \u003cem\u003eaman\u003c/em\u003e rice-lentil-mungbean in the non-rice dominant system.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was carried out under the project Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The finalization of this paper was made possible through the CGIAR Integrated Initiative Sustainable Intensification of Mixed farming systems (SI-MFS; \u0026nbsp;https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/new-cgiar-initiative-on-sustainable-intensification-of-mixed-farming-systems-launched/). The authors would like to thank all agricultural development offices of CSISA-BD and the field research staff of IRRI for their huge support in conducting this very intensive trial. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, or CGIAR. We gratefully acknowledge all farmers who were directly involved and we used their land in this study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding:\u003c/strong\u003e United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the project Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) and CGIAR Integrated Initiative Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SI-MFS).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflicts of interest:\u003c/strong\u003e No conflicts of interest have been declared\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval:\u003c/strong\u003e Not applicable\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to participate:\u003c/strong\u003e Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e: Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and material:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eUpon request, data will be made available.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCode availability:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; contributions:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eAKMF and SA planned and designed the experiment. AKMF conducted the trials, while SA analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. JA assisted in writing certain sections of the manuscript and provided edits. MKA, HB, and JT carefully reviewed and edited the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAbraham B, Araya H, Berhe T, et al (2014) The system of crop intensification: reports from the field on improving agricultural production, food security, and resilience to climate change for multiple crops. Agric Food Secur 3:4. https://doi.org/10.1186/2048-7010-3-4\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAhmed S, Kumar V, Alam M, et al (2021) Integrated weed management in transplanted rice: Options for addressing labor constraints and improving farmers\u0026rsquo; income in Bangladesh. 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Accessed 11 Sep 2024\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWorld Bank (2018) Agriculture in Bangladesh: Unlocking Opportunities for Increased Productivity, Resilience, and Food Security. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYadav GS, Lal R, Meena RS, et al (2017) Energy budgeting for designing sustainable and environmentally clean/safer cropping systems for rainfed rice fallow lands in India. J Clean Prod 158:. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.170\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Crop diversification, food and nutrition security, premium quality rice, sustainable intensification, sustainable farming, systems productivity","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5091319/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5091319/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTo increase the profitability and sustainability of rice-based cropping systems in Bangladesh, sustainable intensification through diversifying high-value and climate-smart crops/varieties is required. Therefore, a multi-location farmer\u0026rsquo;s participatory cropping systems trial was conducted in two consecutive years in south-west Bangladesh aimed at the profitable and sustainable cropping systems evaluation. The on-farm trial included five rice-based cropping systems such as (i) rice-fallow-rice (R-F-R), (ii) rice-mustard-rice (R-M-R), (iii) rice-lentil-mungbean (R-L-M) (iv) rice-wheat-mungbean (R-W-M) and (v) rice-relay mustard-rice (R-RM-R). The trial was conducted in 60 farmers\u0026rsquo; fields in two adjacent districts with similar weather conditions and premium quality rice variety/es was tested in the R-M-R and R-RM-R systems. We evaluated the systems rice equivalent yield (REY), systems profitability, sustainable yield index (SYI), production and land use efficiency, and systems protein and energy outputs. The highest system REY (14.1\u0026ndash;14.4 t ha-1) was recorded from the cropping system R-M-R which was similar to the cropping system R-RM-R in 2015/16. The R-M-R cropping systems had 20\u0026ndash;25% higher REY than the systems R-F-R which recorded the lowest REY (11.2\u0026ndash;11.4 t ha-1). The highest systems net return (1610\u0026ndash;1879 USD ha-1) was recorded from the CS R-M-R; however, the highest (1.83\u0026ndash;1.99) benefit-cost ratio was involved with CS R-L-M and it was due to lower production cost involvement with this system. The CS R-M-R had the highest SYI (0.84\u0026ndash;0.85), followed by R-RM-R and R-L-M, and the lowest value was from R-W-M (0.75\u0026ndash;0.77). The highest systems protein, systems energy, and systems profitability were recorded from the CS R-M-R; however, the highest land-use efficiency was recorded from the CS R-RM-R. The study revealed that planting mustard between two rice crops (premium quality varieties with short duration aman), either as a sole crop or with the relay of aman rice, is one of the most profitable options for crop intensification in rice-fallow-rice cropping systems.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Enhancing profitability, sustainability, and resilience of rice-based cropping systems by including premium quality rice and intensifying and diversifying cropping systems","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-02-07 08:00:35","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5091319/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3b4a6fbe-e6eb-4619-8ae1-71d3dde63d4f","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-02-07T08:00:35+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-02-07 08:00:35","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5091319","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5091319","identity":"rs-5091319","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}

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