MODULE 4

CHAPTER IV: Basic Experimental Designs for

Agricultural Research
• In the field of agriculture, experimental research is
conducted to answer a particular question or solve a
particular problem.

A. TECHNIQUES IN IMPLEMENTING A GOOD

EXPERIMENT
• Careful and efficient designing of an experiment is both
an ART and SCIENCE.
1. Factors of choosing a good experimental site (area)
a. Slope
✓ Generally, fertility
gradients are more
pronounced in sloping
areas. The main
reason is the
movement of nutrients
in the soil due to water
when it rains and
during flooding.
✓ Ideally, experiments should be conducted in areas with no
slopes (level) but this is not possible most of the time. If
this is not avoidable, PROPER BLOCKING is needed.

✓ If the fertility gradient is going in one direction, BLOCKS

WITH LONG AND NARROW PLOTS should be made
PERPENDICULAR to the gradient.
b. Choice of appropriate design
✓ The choice of experimental design depends on the
heterogeneity or otherwise of the soil.
✓ Some designs can be used to correct the defects in the
field (e.g., soil heterogeneity).
✓ The field environment is NOT SO HOMOGENEOUS
(unlike the greenhouse).

Examples:
• Completely Randomized Design (CRD)
• Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD)
• Latin Square Design (LSD)
c. Areas used for experiments in previous croppings
✓ Study the nature of the previous study to determine if it
will have any direct or serious effect on the outcome of
the new experiment
d. Graded areas
✓ The topsoil from an elevated area is removed by grading
to minimize the slope, thus exposing infertile subsoils

e. Presence of large trees, poles, and structures

✓ Areas with surrounding permanent structures should be
avoided, not only because of the direct effect of shading
but also the nature of the soil near the structure.
 f. Unproductive sites
✓ In experimenting, the aim is to have a productive crop so
poor soil should be avoided unless it is the purpose of the
experiment.

2. Common mistakes in proper planning and proper layout

of an experiment

a. Failure to study the cropping history of the area to be

used in the trial
b. Failure (or reluctance) to conduct soil analysis even if a
fertilizer experiment is to be conducted in the area

c. Improper or uneven land preparation

d. Disregarding the effect of shading

on surrounding trees or structures

e. Failure to consider the effect/influence of

surrounding experiments
3. Cultural management mistakes committed while
conducting an experiment

a. Improper or uneven application of fertilizer

b. Uneven application of water
c. Uneven (or sometimes unfinished) spraying of
pesticide
d. Unfinished cultural operation in a block
e. Failure to examine properly water source

f. Furrowing for row spacing

 g. Selection of seedlings
h. Thinning
i. Transplanting
j. Fertilizer application
k. Seed mixtures and off-types
Tomato seedlings in a seedbed

4. Mistakes commonly committed during data

gathering/harvest
a. Improper harvesting (not finishing the harvest in a block)
b. Improper instrument/ measuring
device used in data gathering

c. Delayed or staggered gathering of

data

d. Inadequate or improper sampling

e. Tendency to select the best plant for

sampling
f. Entering data on loose g. Recalling data from memory
paper

I guess 10
or 11???
h. Estimation of data if they
were not properly entered
(or were not entered at all)
5. Sources of variation in a field experiment
a. Variability in biological material

b. Characteristics of the soil

c. Lack of uniformity in treatment application

d. Uncontrollable factors
B. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
• The assignment of treatments to different plots in the trial
area depends on the experimental design.
- follow the principles of the experimental design because
it will facilitate the correct assessment of the trial.

• The experimental design depends on the soil

heterogeneity, the type of treatments, the number of
treatments, and the degree of precision needed.

• Experiments in which only a single factor varies while all

others are kept constant are called single-factor
experiments.
1. Completely Randomized Design (CRD)
• Intended for experiments where there is no significant
variation in the area or environment.
- homogeneous experimental units (pots), laboratory
or greenhouse experiments, where environmental
effects are relatively easy to control.

• In this design, treatments are replicated but not blocked,

which means that the treatments are assigned to plots in
a completely random manner.
 Randomization and Layout

Example: 4 treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4)

3 replications (R1, R2, and R3)

Steps:
a. Determine the total number of experimental units, e.g.,
pots (n).
n =rxt
= 3 x 4 = 12
b. Assign a pot number to each experimental unit or pot in
any convenient manner: from 1 to n
 Pot
number
Experimental
units

Pot numbers are assigned to different

experimental units

c. Assign the treatments to the experimental pots using a

randomization scheme.
Example of the scheme: Using draw lots
Treatments Replications Combinations
RI T1RI
T1 RII T1R2
RIII T1R3
RI T2R1
T2 RII T2R2
RIII T2R3
RI T3R1
T3 RII T3R2
RIII T3R3
RI T4R1
T4 RII T4R2
RIII T4R3
 Analysis of Variance
There are two sources of variation among the n observations obtained
from a CRD trial.
1. treatment variation
2. experimental error
Example: (17)2 = 289; (20)2 = 400
Example: (105)2 = 11,025
 5%
2.53
3.70
1%
Basically, CV<10 is very good, 10-20 is good, 20-30
is acceptable, and CV>30 is not acceptable.
categorization, is this referring to the agricultural
research thresholds.
2.94 > 2.53 = mean differences are significant
at 5% NOT at 1%.
- Need to compare the treatments why
significant? If not significant (NS), no need to
compare.
END