ABSTRACT
The experiment to evaluate the “Effect of SRI (System of Rice Intensification) practices in increasing the yield of traditional varieties of rice was carried out in the samba season of 2022 at south farm in Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Division of Agronomy, Coimbatore. The soil of the experimental field was clay loam, moderately drained low in available N 212 kg ha-1), high (17.4 kg ha-1) medium K (410 kg ha-1) level of organic carbon (0.73%). The experiment was laid in Randomized Block Design and replicated three times. The treatments consisted of 7 rice varieties namely Illupaipoo samba (T1), Vaalan samba (T2), Mysore malli (T3), Thanga samba (T4), Thooyamalli (T5), Kitcheli samba (T6) and Bhavani (T7). The Data collected includes the yield attributes of different traditional rice varieties and was analyzed using analysis of variance. In the recent past, research on the country's rice crop has mostly been concentrated on increasing output, crop resilience to pests and diseases, and has given little attention to cultivating the traditional rice varieties or management options for better establishment and production. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct SRI technique experiments with a few chosen rice varieties in order to gather data and provide guidance on the best variety to choose for the production of high-quality rice and its commercialization The results showed that the variety Thanga samba (T4) produced significantly higher grain yield of 6564 kg ha-1 and registered a yield increase ranging from 12 to 63 per cent over the other varieties under evaluation. The highest net return of 176472 ₹ ha-1 with B:C ratio of 2.6 was realised under the variety Thanga samba (T4). In conclusion the variety Thanga samba (T4) performed better under SRI method of cultivation.