Comparative Bio-Economic Efficiencies of Different Organic Manures in Winter Rice

The experiment was conducted to analyze comparative bio-economic efficiencies of different organic manures in winter rice (locally known as boro rice) of Bangladesh. This study consists of 11 treatments with different combinations of chemical fertilizers and organic manures. Vermicompost, Trico-compost, Cow dung, Poultry manure, and Co-compost at 2.5 t ha-1 or 5 t ha-1 were applied with the recommended fertilizer dose (RDF) or 75% RDF, respectively. Only RDF was considered as a control. The experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory of Bangladesh Agricultural University (90°25'35.2"E, 24°43'07.3"N), following a randomized complete block design with three replications. Overall, the results indicate that the combination of RDF with 2.5 t ha-1 organic manure significantly enhanced the yield attributes and yield of winter rice. In contrast, 75% RDF, coupled with any of the organic manures studied, was found to be less effective than RDF in terms of yield. Poultry manure and cow dung at 2.5 t ha-1, combined with RDF, resulted in a higher benefit-cost ratio (2.34 and 2.28) compared to a single application of RDF (2.05) in winter rice. This is also closely followed by co-compost application at 2.5 t ha-1 (2.00). The BCR was determined to be less than 1 for vermicompost and trico-compost at a rate of 5 t ha⁻¹ with RDF. Considering both productivity and profitability, poultry manure appeared as the best manure to be incorporated with RDF. Based on availability and other factors, cow dung and co-compost at 2.5 t ha-1 with RDF could also be applied for sustainable and increased yield of winter rice.