Abstract

Field experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Thirupathisaram, Tamil Nadu during kharif and rabi of 2011-12 to study the different establishment techniques on growth and yield of rice. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with four replications. The treatment structure comprises of wet seeding, drum seeding, random transplanting, line planting, SRI square planting and SRI machine planting. Among the different crop establishment techniques, SRI machine planting significantly influenced the growth and yield characters and yield and was on par with SRI square planting. The maximum plant height, number of tillers, number of panicles/m2 , number of grains/panicle, panicle length, grain yield, straw yield, gross return, net returns and BC ratio were recorded under SRI machine planting during kharif and rabi. The lowest grain yield, straw yield, gross return, net returns and BC ratio were recorded under wet seeding during both kharif and rabi.

Keywords: Rice, establishment techniques, SRI, yield, economics