Comparative evaluation of establishment and irrigation methods on summer rice productivity and quality

Field experiment was conducted during summer season of 2012 and 2013 for two consecutive years at the research cum Instructional farm IGKVV, Raipur Chhattisgarh to evaluate the effect of establishment and irrigation methods on productivity and quality of summer rice. In the rice-growing regions including those in tropical and subtropical regions, rice has already been cultivated as a summer crop despite relatively high temperatures that occur during its growth cycle (Sung et al., 2003). High-temperature stress in plants is a complex function of intensity (temperature in degrees), duration, and rate of increase in temperature (Wahid et al., 2007). Out of three methods of establishment, Direct seeded rice (DSR), Transplanted rice (TPR) and Wet seeded rice (WSR). TPR produced higher grain yield (4.0 and 4.8 t/ha) of summer rice which was statistically at par with direct seeded rice (DSR) (3.8 and 4.6 t/ha) during 2012 and 2013, respectively. Among four methods of irrigation viz. Conventional irrigation, Alternate wetting and drying, drip and Sprinkler, drip irrigation harvested the maximum grain yield over the rest of the irrigation methods followed by recommended practice perform better as compared to others with respect to grain yield and quality parameters followed by direct seeded rice during both the years. TPR recorded maximum grain length which was statistically at par with DSR and minimum grain length was measured in WSR during 2013. Among methods of irrigation, drip irrigated crop attained maximum grain length which was statistically at par with recommended practice and conventional irrigation during both the years. Significant variations were observed in white rice length due to irrigation methods during both the years and in white rice breadth due to irrigation methods during 2012. Drip irrigation were recorded maximum white rice length which was at par with recommended practice during both the years.