Vol. 13 No. 1
To assess the scope of brown manuring in aerobic rice in central Punjab
Author(s): P. K. SRAW, A. KAUR AND K. SINGH
Abstract: A field experiment was conducted at farmer’s fields to assess the scope of brown manuring in direct seeded basmati rice during the rainy (kharif) season of 2011 and 2012 in Jalandhar district, Punjab. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design with four replications. The experiment consists of four treatments viz. Sole direct-seeded basmati rice (DSBR) in prepared, Sole DSBR in unprepared field, DSBR in prepared field with sesbania brown manuring (SBM) and DSBR in unprepared field with SBM. The sowing of direct-seeded basmati rice (DSBR) was done in 2nd week of June in both the years and harvested manually in 2nd fortnight of November. It was observed that Sesbania brown manuring reduced the density of broad-leaved weeds, narrow-leaved weeds, and sedges by 67.6, 43.6, and 33.6 per cent DSBR in prepared field treatment and reduced the density of broad-leaved weeds (67.2%), narrow-leaved weeds (37.1%), and sedges (64.9%) DSBR in unprepared field than the sole DSBR in prepared and unprepared field. Likewise, dry weight of the broad-leaved weeds, grassy weeds, and sedges was reduced by 77.4, 49.1 and 52 per cent, DSBR in prepared field with sesbania brown manuring treatment and 60.4 per cent, 56.7 per cent, and 52.7 per cent in DSBR in unprepared field respectively, than the sole crop of DSBR in prepared and unprepared field. DSBR in prepared field with SBM have 8.2, 9.97 and 3.8 per cent higher yield as compared to sole DSBR in prepared field, sole DSBR in unprepared field and DSBR in unprepared field with SBM. The organic carbon content at the end of the experiment ranged from 0.47-0.66 per cent across different locations. There was little or change in organic carbon content where sole direct seeded rice for cultivated, rather at some locations it decreased slightly. Highest benefit cost ratio was recorded in unprepared DSBR treatment with and without SBM which was 4.27 and 4.19 respectively. Highest net return (Rs 67.2x103ha-1) was registered with DSBR in prepared field with SBM followed by DSBR in unprepared field with SBM.
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