Crop establishment methods and management practices impact on rice yield parameters in central Punjab

The field experiment was conducted to study the effect of varied crop establishment methods and management practices on yield parameters of cultivars ‘PR 122’, ‘PR 126’ and ‘Pusa 44’ during kharif 2020 and 2021. The direct seeded rice (DSR) method exhibited greater plant height, dry matter production and effective tillers per square meter, while puddled transplanted rice (PTR) method showed advantages in panicle length, 1000 grain weight, sterility % age and grain yield. However, the difference in these yield attributing factors between the two establishment methods were found to be statistically non-significant. The PTR method had higher numbers of grains per panicle and harvest index, while straw yield was significantly higher in the DSR method. Plant height, dry matter production, effective tillers per meter square, sterility % age, and straw yield were highest in Pusa 44 while no. of grains per panicle and harvest index were the highest in PR 126. Among nitrogen levels, plant height, dry matter production, effective tillers per meter square, panicle length, no. of grains per panicle, sterility % age and straw yield were significantly higher with 125 % of the recommended dose of nitrogen while the harvest index was significantly higher in leaf colour chart treatment. Rice cultivation practices under DSR, cultivar PR 126 and nitrogen application according to LCC are the better outcomes as compared to other treatments.