Maize is a widely grown cereal after rice and wheat and contributes almost 5% to the global dietary supply. In the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) including India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, maize is an emerging cash crop, because of its high yield potentiality and also the favorable climatic conditions which allow maize production round the year. In Bangladesh, area and production of maize are escalating due to the increasing demand for poultry, livestock, and fish feed, and fodder for animals and starch industries in the region. Presently, more than 90% of maize is planted by manual dibbling following 5–6 intensive tillage, which increases the cost of cultivation. The conservation agricultural (CA)-based new agricultural practices could overcome those above challenges. CA is cost-effective and environmentally friendly; however, weeds are one of the key challenges in the system. The chapter described the uses of herbicides in different ways of combinations to make effective weed control in CA-based maize to achieve potential production and profits by reducing the intensive pressure of manual weeding. The efficient and right use of pre-plant/sowing, pre- and post-emergence herbicides and their combination may be the best way for effective control of weeds in maize production.
Part of the book: Maize
Wheat plays an important role in attaining food and nutritional security in Bangladesh after rice. The demand of wheat has been increasing every year at the rate of 13% due to rapid changes in dietary habits, socio-economic upliftment, enhancement of per capita income, etc. Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) has already released 34 high yielding, disease-resistant, and abiotic stress-tolerant wheat varieties, and improved management practices to the farmers. Although all the released varieties have climatic yield potential as high as 6.0 t ha−1 with the attainable average yield is 4.0–4.5 t ha−1, the national average yield in farmers’ field is only 3.49 t ha−1; it is specified that there is a huge yield gap existing among potential, attainable and actual yields. One of the most important reasons for this yield gap of wheat is the terminal high temperature stress (HS) in late sowing wheat. Generally, farmers in Bangladesh are sowing wheat lately due to delay in sowing monsoon rice and subsequent late harvest of the rice; as a result, late sown wheat faces terminal HS at reproductive stage. The chapter highlighted the consequences of terminal HS on wheat and potential approaches to mitigate the stress in Bangladesh.
Part of the book: Plant Stress Physiology