Anil Kumar, Yogesh Kumar, S.P. Singh, U.P. Shahi, Mukesh Kumar, R.N. Yadav, Krashankant Sharma, Umesh Kumar, Om Prakash Yadav and Suneel Kumar
Abstract
A field study was conducted during the Kharif seasons of 2023 and 2024 at the Crop Research Centre, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, to evaluate the effects of planting techniques and nutrient management on Basmati rice (Pusa Basmati-1). The experiment was laid out in a Split-Plot Design. The main plot treatments consisted of three planting techniques: conventional puddle transplanted rice (CT-TPR), wide raised bed transplanted rice (WB-TPR), and unpuddled transplanted rice (UN-TPR) and in the sub-plot an unfertilized control, recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF: 150:60:50 kg NPK ha-¹) with zinc, 75% RDF combined with farmyard manure (FYM at 5 t ha-¹), and 75% RDF with FYM and bio-fertilizer. The results demonstrated that growth parameters were significantly superior under the conventional puddle transplanted system (CT-TPR). This treatment achieved the maximum plant height (95.6 & 97.5 cm at harvest), number of tillers (251.8 & 256.4 m-²), and dry matter accumulation (1362.7 & 1372.1 g m-²). Consequently, CT-PTR also produced the highest grain yields of 44.19 and 46.01 q ha-¹. Among nutrient strategies, the application of the full RDF (150:60:50 kg NPK ha-¹) with zinc resulted in the most vigorous growth and the highest productivity, yielding 48.78 and 50.72 q ha-¹. This was closely followed by integrated approach (75% RDF + 5 t ha-¹ FYM + bio-fertilizer). The control treatment consistently resulted in poorest growth and lowest yields.