Influence of Mulch Materials and Organic Manures on Lettuce

The experiment was conducted in the field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from October 2009 to January 2010 to find out the combined effect of mulch materials and organic manure on the growth and yield of lettuce. Four levels of mulch materials viz. M_o = No mulching, M₁ = Dry water hyacinth, M₂ = Black polythene and M₃ = Dry rice straw and four levels of organic manure viz. OM_o = no organic manure, OM₁ = Cowdung (20 t ha⁻¹), OM₂ = Poultry manure (10 t ha⁻¹) and OM₃ = Vermicompost (10 t ha⁻¹) were used as experimental variables. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Completely Block Design with sixteen treatments replicated three times. Result showed that most of the growth parameters were influenced by the much materials and organic manure. All the parameters viz. number of leaves plant⁻¹, leaf length (cm), leaf breath (cm), dry matter accumulation (%), yield (g plant⁻¹) and yield (t ha⁻¹) performed better in case of M₂OM₃ (Black polythene + vermicompost: 10 t ha⁻¹), while the minimum growth and yield parameter were obtained from M₀OM₀(control) at each observation stage. Although the highest gross and net returns were obtained from the M₂OM₃, it was apparent that the treatment combination of M₂OM₃ was more profitable compare to other treatments.From Benefit cost ratio point of view (Benefit cost ratio) treatment M₁OM₂ (Dry water hyacinth + poultry manure: 3.37) was more economic than the M₂OM₃ (3.14).