Effect of establishment methods on the phenophases, productivity, and profitability of rice-rice system

A field experiment was conducted in the Instructional Farm of the College of Agriculture, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India during 2017-18 to study the effect of rice establishment methods on phenophases, productivity, and profitability in rice- rice system. The experiment in kharif was laid out in a randomized block design with 3 treatments viz. direct seeded rice (DSR), non-puddled transplanting (NPTR), and puddled transplanting (PTR) with 3 replications whereas, in Rabi, these 3 establishment methods were reassigned within each treatment leading to 9 treatment combinations. Two promising rice varieties, cv. Swarna sub 1 and cv. Lalat were adopted in this experiment during kharif and rabi, respectively. Rabi rice under DSR-DSR matured 8 days earlier than PTR-PTR method, whereas the maximum grain yield (6.65 t ha-1) was recorded under the NPTR-PTR with the maximum harvest index of 0.52 which was 30.5% higher than DSR-DSR.The highest system yield (11.45 t ha-1) was recorded under the NPTR-PTR method of establishment which was 27.2% higher than the DSR-DSR method of establishment. The NPTR-PTR rice establishment also recorded the highest system gross return of Rs.1,79,785/- ha-1, the net return of Rs. 93,475/- ha-1, and B-C ratio of 2.1 against the total cost of cultivation of Rs. 86,310/- ha-1. Thus, the NPTR-PTR method of the establishment was found to be the best method so far as productivity and profitability are concerned.