Mustard productivity in Bangladesh remains low due to the continued cultivation of low-yielding varieties. To identify high-performing cultivars suitable for cultivation in post-T. Aman fallow lands utilizing residual soil moisture, a field experiment was conducted under farmers’ field conditions during the rabi season (November 2019 to February 2020) at Sotero, Shiberbazar, Sylhet. Seventeen rapeseed–mustard varieties comprising BARI, BINA, and local cultivars were evaluated in a randomized complete
block design with three replications. Significant varietal differences were observed for all growth and yield attributes. BARI Sarisha-11 produced the tallest plants, whereas BARI Sarisha-8 recorded the shortest. BARI Sarisha-14 produced the highest number of branches per plant (4.40), followed by BARI Sarisha-10 (3.80), while Tori-7 produced the fewest (1.53). Safal produced the highest fresh biomass, whereas BARI Sarisha-13 recorded the lowest. Tori-7 produced the highest plant population, while BARI Sarisha-13
had the lowest. BARI Sarisha-10 recorded the highest number of siliquae per plant (45.40), followed by Daulat (40.27), whereas BARI Sarisha-17 produced the fewest (15.00). BINA Sarisha-10 produced the highest number of seeds per siliqua (18.33), while Daulat recorded the lowest (10.73). BARI Sarisha-17 exhibited the highest 1000-seed weight while Tori-7 was the lowest. The highest seed yield was obtained from BARI Sarisha-15
(1.43 t ha⁻¹), followed by Agroni (1.23 t ha⁻¹), Safal (1.20 t ha⁻¹), and BARI Sarisha-11 (1.14 t ha⁻¹), whereas BINA Sarisha-10 produced the lowest yield (0.68 t ha⁻¹). Overall, the findings indicate that BARI Sarisha-15, BARI Sarisha-11, Agroni, and Safal are promising varieties for mustard cultivation under Sylhet conditions due to their superior yield performance and adaptability under the experimental conditions.

Keywords: Variety evaluation, mustard, farmers’ field condition, Sylhet

The present study was conducted to evaluate the groundwater quality at different locations in Sylhet district. The selected locations were Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU), Chowkideki, Tilagor, Golapgonj, South Surma and BADC pump at Daudpure. Temperature, pH, turbidity, total alkalinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), carbondioxide (CO2) and iron (Fe) were tested in the water quality laboratory of Sylhet Agricultural University and Leading University, Sylhet. Further water concentration data in the form of pH, turbidity, temperature, total alkalinity, carbon di oxide (CO2), iron (Fe), phosphate (PO4), nitrate (NO3), total hardness and total dissolved solids were collected from Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). All the parameters were compared with laboratory tested samples and evaluated with Bangladesh water quality standard whether it is suitable or not. The tested quality parameters were found within the acceptable limit for irrigation and domestic purposes. At Golapgonj, the value of iron (2.01 mg l-1) was beyond the acceptable limit. Total alkalinity was found beyond permissible limit for both domestic and irrigation purpose at Daudpure (124 mg l-1) and Golapgonj (432 mg l-1), respectively. From quality point of view, groundwater is suitable for domestic and irrigation purposes except excessive iron presence in the well. A correlation matrix was done to find out the interrelationship among different water quality parameters. It is found that significant positive correlation holds among the water quality parameters. Therefore, it is suggested that the geologic stratification of this region should be thoroughly investigated before installing a tubewell for both domestic and irrigation purposes.

Keywords: Groundwater, quality parameters, iron, irrigation, Sylhet

The study is an attempt to examine the economic analysis of cauliflower and cabbage production in selected areas of Sylhet district. A total of 45 farmers were randomly selected from three villages namely Dighirpar, Basantagaon and Paschimdarsa at Sylhet Sadar upazila in Sylhet district. The major findings of this study revealed that production of the selected homestead vegetables were profitable. Per acre gross cost of production of cauliflower and cabbage were Tk. 93860.55 and Tk. 92135.8, respectively and the corresponding gross returns were Tk. 229407.4 and Tk. 230800, respectively. Per acre net returns of producing cauliflower and cabbage were Tk. 135546.85 and Tk. 138664.2, respectively. Benefit cost ratios of cauliflower and cabbage production acre-1 were 2.44 and 2.50, respectively. The farmers earned the highest profit from cabbage production. The results of Cobb-Douglas production function model indicated that acre-1 gross returns were significantly influenced by the use of human labour, tillage operation, seeds, fertilizers, manure, irrigation and insecticides. These factors were directly or jointly responsible for influencing acre-1gross returns of cauliflower and cabbage. Some essential policy recommendations have been arisen which are: input and price support, and motivation and training programmes should be arranged by different government and non-government organizations and public-private partnership should be emphasized for creating scope to improve the overall economic condition of the farmers through homestead vegetable farming.

Keywords: Economics, cauliflower, cabbage, production, Sylhet