Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

EFFECT OF RICE ESTABLISHMENT METHODS AND NUTRIENTMANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON GROWTH, YIELD ANDECONOMICS OF RICE (ORYZA SATIVA L.)

Jaya Bharti, Ashok Kumar Singh, C. S. Singh, Arvind Kumar Singh and Ranveer Kumar

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Rice Research Farm of Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, Jharkhand,during Kharif seasons of 2018 and 2019 to find out the effect of rice establishment methods and nutrientmanagement practices on growth, yield and economics of rice. The experiment was laid out in split plotdesign replicated thrice with rice variety Naveen as test crop. The treatments comprised of three differentrice establishment methods viz., normal transplanting, wet direct seeding using drum seeder and aerobicrice assigned to main plots and five nutrient management practices viz., RDF( 80:40:20 kg NPK/ha), 75%RDF + 25% N through FYM (60:30:15 kg NPK/ha + 20 kg N through FYM), RDF + 25% N through FYM(80:40:20 kg NPK/ha + 20 kg N through FYM) , LCC based nitrogen application and control (No fertilizer)assigned to sub plots. The soil was clay loam in texture and slightly acidic in reaction (6.2) having 4.3 g/kgorganic carbon, 230.00 kg/ha available soil nitrogen, 36.80 kg/ha available phosphorous, 161.20 kg/ha ofavailable potassium. Results revealed that wet direct seeding of rice using drum seeder recorded maximumgrain (42.19 q/ha) and straw yield (65.22 q/ha) which was comparable with transplanting method butwere significantly superior to aerobic rice. Among the nutrient management practices, application of RDF+ 25% N through FYM produced maximum grain (46.33 q/ha) and straw yield (71.53 q/ha) which wassignificantly better than rest of the treatments except LCC based N application. Among the differentestablishment methods, wet direct seeding of rice using drum seeder recorded maximum net return (58337`/ha) which was significantly higher than other establishment methods. The B:C ratio was also maximumwith wet direct seeding using drum seeder (2.00) which was statistically at par with aerobic rice (1.93).Among the nutrient management practices, LCC based N application gave the highest net return (64030 `/ha) and B:C ratio (2.28).