Evaluation of Comparative Performance of Different Resource Conservation Technologies System in Rice (Oryza Sativa L.)

Abstract

Resource conserving technologies (RCTs) with reduced till practices represents a major shift in production techniques for attaining optimal productivity, profitability and water use in rice crop in north west plains. Conventional tillage and crop establishment methods such as puddled transplanting in the rice (Oryza sativa L.) crop in the northwest plains require a large amount of water and labor, both of which are increasingly becoming scarce and expensive. We attempted to evaluate alternatives that would require smaller amounts of these two inputs. A field experiment was conducted in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut ,U.P. in Kharif 201 O,to evaluate various tillage and crop establishment systems for their efficiency in labor, water, and energy use and economic profitability. The wide beds and paired rows with flat layouts in rice crop is under evaluation in different scenario of soil, climate and seeding/crop establishment techniques and showed non consistent results. Systematic information on various aspects of narrow/wide beds is lacking. The productivity of rice with wide beds was at par compared to reduced tillage transplanted rice layouts. The water productivity was markedly improved with wide beds compared to other tillage and crop establishment techniques. Under research managed trials with basmati rice, the profitability was maximum with wide beds (Rs.19775 ha-1 ) and was least with narrow raised beds (Rs.14750 ha-1 ). The study showed that the conventional practice of puddled transplanting could be replaced with RCT's based crop establishment methods to save water and labor. However, the occurrence and distribution of rainfall during the cropping season had considerable influence on the savings in irrigation water. The objectives of our study were to evaluate the effects of various tillage and seeding methods on productivity, profitability, irrigation requirement labour requirement and WUE of the rice crop in the north- west plains.