Evaluation of Rice Varieties Under Different Crop Management Options in Rainfed and Drought Prone Ecology of Jharkhand

Rice is the life and livelihood of Indians and the fact is more appropriate to the eastern part of the country. Rainfed and drought prone upland rice contributes a significant part of the total rice cultivation not only in India but also at the global level. However, the productivity is very low as compared to other rice-ecosystems. Hybrids were released from many institutions having several advantages and limitations. Comparative evaluation of rice hybrids and high yielding varieties (HYVs) under transplanting and direct seeding conditions is necessary to obtain a comparative picture. A field trial was conducted for three consecutive years to compare HYVs and popular hybrids under integrated crop management in drought prone rainfed ecology. Results of the experiment revealed that higher number of tillers were noted under wet-direct seeding, whereas increased application of fertilizer dose did not influence tillering under both direct seeding (DSR) and transplanting methods of crop establishment. Number of panicles per unit area also showed similar trend as tiller number and it was found that number of panicles were more in DSR as compared to transplanted rice. Grain yield between the transplanted and DSR is comparable, however, reduction in yield was higher in case of hybrids when switched from transplanted to DSR as compared to HYVs. Hence, it can be concluded that, in the drought prone rainfed areas HYVs should be preferred for cultivation over hybrids under DSR as there is diminishing scope of transplanted rice cultivation.