The 60 on-farm demonstrations conducted in the 2006-07 season confirmed that the existing chickpea technology is generally suitable for the central and northern parts of the High Barind Tract (HBT). Major biophysical constraints contributing to risk of chickpea cultivation in the HBT continue to be low and unpredictable soil moisture status and Helicoverpa pod borer attack. The market price is clearly very attractive, and farmers appreciate that costs of inputs are very low compared to boro rice, wheat or maize. The sub-sector mapping arising from the Business Development Services (BDS) workshop held in February will help to identify the key bottlenecks on which the Project should focus to more widespread adoption of chickpea in the HBT.

Generally, lentil cultivation under the project has been successful in northern Bangladesh, with yields exceeding the national average being achieved by the novice growers in most of the 120 demonstration plots sown. Plant populations established were mostly satisfactory except when sown into excessively wet soil, where nodulation was inhibited or delayed resulting in slow and/or uneven greening of the canopy. The other major constraint to lentil was stemphylium blight but this could be managed by fungicidal spraying and minimizing canopy density. It appears that there is a narrow range of optimum population density for lentil in this environment: this range will need to be established for PTOS-sown crops.

Although soils of the region are acid (pH 4.5-5.5), lentil appeared to grow satisfactorily in many plots. Poor growth could mainly be attributed to initial waterlogging events, which prevented or delayed N2 fixation. However, in the on-farm trial at Tupamari, Nilphamari, there was a large lime response, even though growth in general was very poor at this location. Further experimentation is required to understand the nature of the lime response.

Many lentil fields had two weedings, but this had not controlled weeds sufficiently. Further attention to weed control will be needed for the moister conditions of northern Bangladesh, especially with PTOS-seeding in rows. BARI developed a dryland hand weeder (or 3-kata) that may be used for weeding in row-planted crops. Applying herbicide is one of the options for weed control. Typical B deficiency symptoms of lentil were observed in only a few of the fields seen. An uneven hand broadcasting of the B fertilizer may have resulted in the sporadic appearance of symptoms.

Novice farmers (50) in the northern Bangladesh also generally achieved yields of chickpea higher than the national average. An on-farm trial confirmed the need to apply boron, molybdenum and Rhizobium, but there was also an additional response to lime. Other major constraints to chickpea were botrytis grey mould, collar rot (Sclerotium rolfsii) and pod borer. Biophysical constraints to lentil and chickpea in the northern districts were prioritized in a project report and overall constraints to production and consumption of these crops in north-western Bangladesh will be analysed through a BDS approach.

After various modifications with the rotary tiller, the 4-blade strip tiller was found to be the best option for minimum tillage, row planting. Bent blades throw too much soil out of the strip, leaving an open slot to about 2-3 cm depth. Straight 'C' type blades work better. However, on the heavier soils such as the Barind soil the slot remains open to 2-4 cm, and makes it difficult for the press wheel to press the soil down on the seed. This may require laddering to drag soil back into the strip. Chains behind the rotary tiller may be able to pull the soil back into the strip. Perhaps a different shape or thickness of the press wheel may be required. It would be desirable that further testing of some of these options occurs before the 2007 rabi season.

A 16 HP power tiller (PT) pulled 2 tynes through the medium textured HBT soils. However, very few 16 HP PT exist and hence the development of no-till planters should not be reliant upon 16 HP PT, but rather developed for 12 HP machines as these are cheap and commonly available.

The project organized a series of training programmes on lentil and chickpea cultivation and followed up with field days aimed at disseminating optimum cultivation methods. The project held an inception workshop on 5 November 2006, a BDS workshop, on 4-5 February 2007 and a review workshop and coordination meeting on 24 May 2007. Two PhD scholars were identified to work on the project and arrangements made for a training visit of two Bangladeshi Project members to Australia in August-September, 2007. The Australian component of the project began in June 2007 with the sowing of a field trial examining interactions between row spacing, fertilizer placement, soil moisture and seed priming of chickpea at Merredin in Western Australia.

Overall, most activities of the project are on schedule. The economic environment in which pulses are produced has changed markedly in the last 11 months due to the sharp rise in prices of internationally traded grains, fertilisers and fuel. There are opportunities and threats for pulses in Bangladesh as a consequence of these changes. Pulses remain highly profitable, but the rising price of maize, wheat and Boro rice has reinforced the view that our research should specifically target those areas with limited or no irrigation so that the Rabi season pulses, chickpea and lentil, are not grown in direct competition with cereals.

Two years of demonstrations have shown that the ICM package developed for chickpea is applicable in the central and northern High Barind Tract (HBT), but Mo and Rhizobium are essential because of the surface soil acidity. A replicated field experiment at one location showed no direct response to lime application, suggesting that acidity primarily lowers Mo availability. However, this finding needs confirmation. Sowing into a seedbed of adequate moisture content and controlling pod borer remain critically important to achieving reasonable chickpea yields and extension advisers and farmers need thorough training in the management of these constraints. Extensive evaluation of lentil in the HBT, where it was previously considered to be an unsuitable crop, has identified niches where lentil would be a viable alternative to chickpea. A technique of lab rearing of larvae, to allow year-round production of quality HNPV at low cost, was confirmed. Commercial production and sale of HNPV is now being attempted. Surveys suggest a 25 % increase in chickpea planting in the areas where demonstrations were held in 2006-07. In addition PROVA responded to farmer interest by selling them 580 kg of seed plus Mo and Rhizobium, thus commercializing technology transfer. The practice of priming with Mo + Rhizobium increased among farmers exposed to ICM training from 13 to 66 %. This plus the increase in farmers practicing proper seed storage, from 41 to 56 %, bodes well for continued spread of chickpea in the HBT through the use of the ICM package.

Two seasons of evaluation of both chickpea and lentil in northern Bangladesh, have shown that reasonable yields can be obtained provided the ICM package is followed. Mo and Rhizobium were also required here but additional responses to lime were obtained, suggesting that in northern districts additional soil acidity constraints exist apart from Mo deficiency. However, it was observed that the present priming procedure for inoculating seed with Rhizobium was not fully effective, particularly for lentil, and attempts are being made to improve the inoculation procedure. A time of sowing study indicates that the sowing window for lentil is much wider than previously considered, extending to near the end of November. In many of the demonstrations control of foliar diseases and pod borer was not satisfactory. This suggests that further, more intensive, training is required for farmers and extension personnel in pest and disease management. In addition, site selection was sometimes inadequate, with some plots located in areas of intensive irrigation, and attempts are being made to more precisely delineate potential areas for lentil and chickpea, where irrigation facilities are restricted or absent. RDRS has recorded technology adoption at specific locations, mainly in Dinajpur District, but not in areas of predominantly irrigated crop production.

A sub-sector analysis for lentil and chickpea in NW Bangladesh is nearing completion. This will identify the key bottlenecks for expansion of chickpea and lentil production and provide a framework for their further promotion.

The second version of the zero tillage planters were tested in farmers' fields and in field experiments on farmers' fields in the 2007 rabi season. Only the strip tillage option is presently a workable option for the heavy clay soils of the HBT. However, the strip tillage operation often throws too much soil out of the tilled slot which results in ineffective pressing of soil around seed. Further investigation is underway to improve the strip tillage planters. Tyned no-till planters are able to sow precisely on the lighter textured soils of the northern Bangladesh districts, but are not currently satisfactory for the heavy clay soils of the HBT. The priority for 2008-09 is to manufacture a number of planters for strip tillage and have them tested in farmers' fields to determine their effectiveness in planting under a variety of field conditions, the robustness of the planters, and their acceptability by farmers.

Two PhD scholars have commenced studies under the project on "Managing risk to crop establishment of chickpeas in rainfed environments of Western Australia and Bangladesh" and "Fertiliser management in chickpea in the High Barind Tract soils under reduced tillage".

During the 2008-09 growing season, the scope and activities of Project LWR/2005/001 were expanded by inclusion of two project variations. Variation 1 was the provision of extra funding to provide training of PROVA and DAE staff in Barisal, working with ACIAR Project LWR/2005/146, in lentil and chickpea technology, and for the manufacture of additional strip tillage seeders for evaluation by NGOs. Variation 2 was for the expansion of demonstrations of lentil production technology to a nationwide basis through greater involvement of BARI, and of ICARDA, in the project.
There was negligible rainfall during the 2008-09 rabi growing season but extended periods of cold and foggy weather in December-January that limited soil moisture evaporation in untilled soil. This created excess soil moisture conditions at some sites in northern districts, limiting the growth and nodulation of lentil and chickpea. This posed a particular problem for strip tillage as the soil adjacent to the slot remained saturated for an extended period. Thorough soil tillage resulted in much better seeding growth at the same sites. Thus, in northern districts, demonstrations and the seed rate and phosphorus (P) fertilizer rate trials sown by strip tillage were unsatisfactory. It appeared that when soils are wet at planting, deeper and wider strips would be needed to achieve satisfactory plant establishment and nodulation, or sowing should be on raised beds or involve complete tillage.
Due to lesser retention of surface soil moisture in the High Barind Tract (HBT), soil moisture deficit was a major constraint. For strip tillage to function in this situation, wider and deeper strips also seemed necessary. This is because the strip-tilled furrow only currently reaches the plough pan layer, which quickly hardens and impedes growth and nodulation of seedling roots. Sets of 25 each of chickpea and lentil integrated crop management (ICM) demonstrations were successfully conducted in the HBT. Experiments with chickpea to determine optimum soil moisture level for seedling establishment, effect of mulching with strip tillage and PTOS, lime response, efficacy of HNPV, and optimum seed and P rates with strip tillage were successfully conducted, although some replicates from the seed and P rate trials were lost due to ineffectiveness of strip tillage as mentioned above.
In northern districts, yields of most of the 35 lentil demonstrations were around 1 t/ha, with low yields attributable to excessive soil moisture and use of strip tillage. Most chickpea demonstrations and experiments sown with strip tillage failed due to the excess soil moisture problem mentioned above. Broadcast-sown, on-farm nutrient trials with lentil and chickpea were adversely affected by excess soil moisture and seedling disease. Lime responses were apparent but responses to Mo, B and Rhizobium inoculation were inconsistent. Date of sowing trials confirmed that lentil in northern districts can be sown until near the end of November, with little sacrifice of yield.
Under Variation 1, four strip till seeders were manufactured in Bangladesh and provided, together with new power tillers, to PROVA and RDRS for evaluation within their research and demonstration programmes. Limited training of NGO operators was provided and various mechanical and design defects became apparent during their operation. A model manufactured in Australia was also shipped to Bangladesh and CIMMYT successfully constructed of a multiple planter for 2-wheel tractors, namely "Sayre Smart Planter" to address previously identified defects. Both seed and fertilizer boxes of the planter are under the handle with four rows planting facilities within 70 cm. The planter is light weight; low cost (Tk. 40,000); easy to convert for - fresh bed planter in one pass, re-shaping and planting in permanent bed; zero or strip tillage planter. Two local manufacturers are started manufacturing the planters locally and start marketing. One manufacturer already manufactured 5 units and sold, he also got order for more 15 units. Moreover, the manufacturers have received orders for Sayre Smart Planters from India (2 units) and the Philippines (one unit). Hence most of the identified problems appear soluble but the major challenge is to characterize soil conditions under which seeders will, and will not, effectively operate.
In the 2008 Australian winter, a field experiment was conducted at Merredin, Western Australia to determine optimum row spacing of chickpea at different soil moisture contents. The APSIM chickpea model will be used to interpret data from this experiment, and complementary experiments being conducted in Bangladesh. Glasshouse experiments were also conducted by the Project PhD students at Murdoch University on response of chickpea seedling growth to soil moisture content and P fertilizer placement, which complement studies on soil moisture response and P application rate with strip tillage being conducted in Bangladesh. In the glasshouse experiments, chickpea seed germination and early seedling growth were not harmed by 100 kg of TSP/ha when placed close to the seed at the rate calculated for 40 cm row spacing on a clay loam soil, but in a sandy soil both germination and growth were strongly inhibited. Application of DAP at the same P rate was much more harmful to chickpea germination and emergence.
Under Variation 2, 180 lentil demonstrations were conducted across six traditional lentil growing districts in Bangladesh. BARI scientists provided training to DAE staff in target areas and to farmers conducting the demonstrations. Monitoring tours were conducted through the season and field days at crop maturity. In association with this activity, but under Variation 1, training in chickpea and lentil production technology was also provided to Proshika and DAE staff, and farmers, at Barisal. BARI scientists also conducted seed rate trials with recently released lentil varieties, herbicide trials to establish weed management procedures suitable for minimum tillage, participatory varietal selection trials evaluating mainly short duration lentil lines, and evaluation of strip tillage.