Optimising cropping systems through BINA crop varieties in southwest Bangladesh

In southwest Bangladesh, short-duration, high-yielding and stress tolerant crop varieties developed by the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) offer a practical pathway to intensify cropping systems under land scarcity and climate variability. Introduction of such crop varieties can enhance land use and overall farm profitability. Considering the fact, the current study was conducted in Jhenaidah and Magura districts of the Jessore region to assess the agronomic and economic performance of better cropping patterns utilizing BINA developed crop varieties. Two better or improved patterns, Transplanted aman–mustard–boro and Transplanted aman–mustard–mungbean–aus were evaluated against the established Transplanted aman–fallow–boro and Transplanted aman–mustard–mungbean sequences. Results showed that improved Transplanted aman–mustard–boro pattern increased rice equivalent yield by 15.6 % and production efficiency (PE) by 9.5 % over the existing Transplanted aman–fallow–boro system. Similarly, inclusion of mungbean and aus rice in a four-crop sequence enhanced land use efficiency to 93.97 %, compared with 73.15 % in the traditional 3-crop pattern. Though improved cropping patterns showed significantly higher gross return and gross margin over the existing patterns, the benefit cost ratio did not differ significantly among the patterns, likely due to higher input and management costs offset yield gains. Overall, integration of BINA developed short-duration and high-yielding crops like mustard, mungbean and aus rice enhanced overall system productivity and resource utilization. These findings suggest that improved patterns with BINA crop varieties can increase cropping intensity, yield and land utilization in southwest Bangladesh without compromising profitability.