Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif and summer seasons of 2010-2011 at ZARS, V.C. Farm, Mandya to study the influence of methods of cultivation and fertility levels on growth and yield of rice hybrids. The experiment consists of 18 treatment combinations involving methods of cultivation (SRI and conventional method of planting), rice hybrids (KRH- 2, KRH-4 and Arize (6444) and fertility levels (100 % RDF, 125 % RDF and 150 % RDF) were laid out in double split- plot design with three replications. Higher plant height, more number of leaves plant -1 , more number of tillers plant -1 , higher leaf area and higher dry matter production plant -1 , more number of panicles m -2 , higher panicle weight g m -2 were recorded in SRI method of rice cultivation with rice hybrid Arize (6444) at 150 % RDF compared to conventional method of planting. SRI method of planting recorded significantly higher grain yield (7717 kg ha -1 ) and straw yield (8554 kg ha -1 ) with rice hybrid arize (7808 kg ha -1 ) compared to KRH-2 (7260 kg ha -1 ) and KRH-4 (7504 kg ha -1 ) at 150 % RDF (7821 kg ha -1 ) than other treatments in the trial.

Keywords: Methods of cultivation, Rice hybrids, Fertility levels, System of Rice Intensification, RDF