Narinder Panotra

Title : Yield and economics of organic basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) as affected by application of crop establishment methods and nutrient sources in sub-tropical zones of Jammu region

Abstract:

A field experiment was conducted for four consecutive Kharif season of 2017-2020 at Organic Farming Research Centre, Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, Chatha, located at 32⁰66^" North latitude and 74⁰79^" East longitude with an altitude of 356 meters above mean sea level in the Shiwalik foothills of North-Western Himalayas. The mean annual rainfall of the experimental site is 1198.2mm of which 70-75% rainfall is received from June to September. Jammu is located in sub-tropical zone bestowed with hot and dry early summers followed by hot and humid monsoon season and cold winters. The soil of the experimental site was sandy clay loam in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction, medium in organic carbon, available phosphorus and potassium but low in available nitrogen. A total experiment area of 5.0 m X 4.0 m in every year was fixed. The experiment was laid out in split-split plot design with three replications. The main plots with two establishment method, sub plots with 05 (five) different organic nutrient sources viz; Zero, FYM @ 6tha^-1, FYM @ 8tha^-1, VC (Vermicompost) @ 2tha^-1, VC @ 3tha^-1 and two crop establishment methods. SRI nursery was prepared with raised bed duly applying FYM and VC as affine layer on the bed. Pre-sprouted seeds were sown @ 5.0 kg ha^-1. Proper leveling was done before planting. 09-12 days old single seedlings were transplanted at spacing of 25 x 25 using seedling per hill, water management was done by maintaining saturation up to Panicle Initiation (PI) stage. The results showed that there were maximum plant growth characters of organic basmati rice like plant height, number of tillers, number of productive tillers, root length, number of roots, root volume, biological yield etc after using vermicompost @ 3.0 t ha^-1 followed by FYM @ 8 t ha^-1 under SRI method. In addition, SRI method was found to be effective in reducing pest and disease incidence, shortening crop rotations and improving plant conditions. It was found from the study that among the various treatments of organic nutrient sources, the highest (37.29 q ha^-1) grain yield of organic basmati rice was recorded with the application of vermicompost @ 3t ha which was statistically at par the application of FYM @ 8tha^-1 (36.14 q ha^-1) respectively under SRI method. The maximum additional net return due to SRI technology of ? 55394ha^-1 was recorded under Vermicompost 3.0 t ha^-1, which was at par of FYM @ 8 t ha^-1 ? 52864ha^-1. Thus, the result of three years study clearly indicated that Organic basmati rice under System of Rice Intensification by Vermicompost 3.0 t ha^-1 and FYM @ 8 t ha^-1 was recorded higher productivity and profitability of crop.

Keywords: Organic nutrient sources, organic basmati rice, plant growth attributes, SRI

Biography:

Dr Narinder Panotra is presently working as Assistant Professor (Senior Scale) in the School of Biotechnology, Chatha, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, J&K, INDIA. He did his Ph. D in Agronomy (Weed Science) from CCSU, India in 2007. He has more than 16 years experience in teaching, research and extension. Dr Panotra started his professional career as a Research Associate (Agronomy) at the IIFSR, Modipuram in December, 2007. He is recipient of various International/national awards. He has published more than 100 publications in journals of National and International repute and 05 books.