Thesis Abstract of AGS Students

On-farm testing of cropping systems in an upland rainfed area

Uthit Taejajai (1988)

An on-farm testing of cropping systems was conducted in the rainy season of 1987 in an upland rainfed area at Chom Thong Land Reform Project, Chom Thong district, Chiang Mai province. The objective of the study was to compare various double cropping patterns with sole crop of soybean practised by farmers. The tested patterns were mungbean-soybean, mungbean-peanut and peanut-mungbean. All field works were carried out by the farmers under the supervision of the researcher. A superimposed trial on component technology was also conducted in each crop of each cropping pattern. The treatments of the superimposed trial were five rates of fertilizer application: control (0-0-0 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O), 3.2-4-0 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O, 3-6-3 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O, 3.2-4-0-27 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O-Ca, and 3-6-3-27 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O-Ca.

It was found that only the peanut-mungbean sequential pattern gave the economic return above farmers' pattern with the marginal rate of return (MRR) of 64%, other two patterns resulted in lower MRR than the farmers' pattern.

The results of fertilizer trial showed that the yield of mungbean which was grown as the first crop was not significantly differed among the treatments, peanuts' yield was not significantly differed among fertilizer treatments but yield from fertilizer treatment were significantly differed from the control. Yield of soybean grown after mungbean, peanut after mungbean, mungbean after peanut and sole crop of soybean were not significantly differed among fertilizer treatments but the significantly lower yield was detected from the control treatment. Economic evaluation of fertilizer treatments showed that peanut grown as a first crop gave the favorable marginal rate of return in all treatments, but not in the case of mungbean which was grown as the first crop. Fertilizer trials on the second crops revealed that soybean gave the acceptable MRR when fertilizer was applied at the rate of 3.2-4-0 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O and 3-6-3-27 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O-Ca. The acceptable MRR was obtained from peanut at the rate of 3.2-4-0 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O and 3.2-4-0-27 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O-Ca, and mungbean at the rate of 3.2-4-0 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O. Sole crop of soybean achieved the acceptable level of MRR when fertilizer was applied at the rate of 3.2-4-0 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O and 3-6-3 kg/rai of N-P2O5-K2O.

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