Influence of Establishment Methods on Performance and Energetics of Kharif Rice Varieties

Aims: To find out the suitable crop establishment methods for the performance of different rice varieties of Assam. Study Design: Split plot design. Place and Duration of Study: Instructional cum Research Farm, Assam Agricultural University Jorhat, during kharif season of 2022. Methodology: In the field experiment, the treatments were laid out in a split plot design with three replications. The treatments comprised of four methods of establishment in main plots viz., M1: Dry broadcasting in unpuddled soil, turned line sown crop by self-propelled paddy weeder, M2: Broadcasting of pre germinated seeds in puddled soil, turned line sown crop by self-propelled paddy weeder, M3: Drum seeding in puddled soils. (Wet DSR), M4: Conventional transplanting and sub-plots consisted of four different varieties. i.e., V1: Numali, V2: Shraboni, V3: Dholi and V4: Bina dhan- 11. Results: Results revealed that among the different methods of establishment, conventional transplanting method (M4) recorded significantly higher plant growth and physiological parameters viz., plant height, dry matter accumulation, crop growth rate and relative growth rate. In case of different varieties, Numali (V1) recorded significantly higher plant height, number of tillers, dry matter accumulation, relative growth rate at harvest as well as yield attributes including number of panicles per square meter, panicle length, panicle weight, 1000-grain weight, total number of grains per panicle, total number of filled grains per panicle and yield parameters such as grain yield, straw yield and harvest index. The interaction of different methods of establishment and varieties significantly influenced the plant growth, physiology and yield parameters. The variety Numali under conventional transplanting recorded significantly increased plant height, dry matter production, yield attributing characters as well as grain yield straw yield. Conclusion: From this study, it was revealed that based on crop growth and yield parameters Numali raised in conventional transplanting resulted higher yield of the crop. While based on economics and energy perspectives, drum seeding of sprouted seeds in puddled soil (wet-DSR) can be an effective agronomic technique for establishing rice crop.