Efficacy of different crop
establishment methods on yield and economics of rice (=
Oryza
sativa L.) in sandy loam soils of
=
Anuradha=
Saha and Vijay Bharti
AICRIP on Rice and WMRC,
&=
nbsp; Decreasing
availability of water for rice will be a major problem in coming era. The
uncertainty in water availability increased because of the failure of monso=
ons
as well as the unequal distribution of rainfall in recent years. Hence, wat=
er
saving technology which also maintains soil health and sustainability as we=
ll
as economically beneficial needs to be developed. Therefore, present experi=
ment
was conducted to evaluate the different crop establishment methods and its
consequent effect on growth, yield and economics of rice.
&=
nbsp; Field
experiment were conducted during Kharif 2005 an=
d 2006
at Research Farm, FOA, Sher-e-Kashmir Universit=
y of
Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu, to study the effect of different
crop establishment methods of rice (Oryza sativ=
a L.)
in sandy soils on growth, yield and economics of rice. Amongst different cr=
op
establishment methods, SRI (System of Rice Intensification) showed maximum
plant height (82.5 cm***), dry matter production (558 gm m-2), number of
tillers (312.37) and yield attributes viz. effective panicles m-2 (306.5),
panicle weight (5.40 g) and test weight (23.92 g) as well as grain yield (5=
.4 7
t/ha) and straw yield (7.66t/ha) as compared to drum seeder, line sowing and
broadcasting methods, respectively. The percent increase in yield of SRI ov=
er
transplanting method was found to 5.20 %. However, SRI showed values for gr=
owth
parameters; yield attributes and yield at par with ICM (Integrated Crop
Management), and transplanting methods. Also, SRI showed maximum water use
efficiency (36.98 kg / cm), saved nearly 14.5 % water consumption over
transplanting method and Benefit: Cost ratio (3.12) followed by normal
transplanting, ICM, direct seeding, line sowing and broad casting methods,
respectively. Further, SRI can be tested under farmers<=
/span>
field as on farm testing to convince farming community. ****