Gerechte Designs for Agricultural Experimentation

Background: In field trials involving large experimental area, though the row blocking and column blocking are good for capturing differences in two directions, but not for marking out stony patches or other features that tend to clump in compact areas. One can use Gerechte designs (Behrens, 1956) for controlling this extra source of variation. Gerechte designs are generalization of Sudoku squares where v treatments are arranged in p rows and q columns and s regions in such a way that each of the symbols 1, …, n occurs in each row, each column and each region at most once. Methods: In this study, some unique methods of construction of Gerechte designs have been discussed. These are mainly complete Gerechte designs. Result: The obtained Gerechte designs are quite easy to construct and available for a wide parameter range.