Implications of Various Establishment Methods and Nutrient Management Practices on the Growth and Yield of Rice in the North Western Himalayan Region

Aim: For more than half of the world's population, rice is the primary staple food. The traditional method of producing rice uses a lot of water, requires a lot of labor, and is bad for the health of the soil and the environment. Additionally, an unbalanced nutrient supply causes plants to grow and develop slowly, the soil to deteriorate, and the environment to suffer. To know the effect of rice establishment and nutrient management on rice a field study was conducted at SKUAST-Jammu.Methodology: In a split plot design with three replications, the field experiment was carried out with the rice variety Pusa-1121 using 3 establishment methods (system of rice intensification, conventional, and mechanical) and 6 nutrient management practices (100% RDF inorganic, 75% RDF inorganic, 125% RDF inorganic, 50% inorganic + 50% organic, 75% inorganic + 25% organic, and 100% organic manures with FYM).Results: Among the nutrient management, 125% RDF gives the highest yield and B:C ratio of the rice crop during both years, according to the results. The highest yield was found in SRI crop establishment method, which also has the highest B:C ratio among all crop establishment methods.Conclusion: In terms of productivity, soil studies and profitability, the es­tablishment of rice by the system of rice intensification (SRI) technique in combination with 125% RDF inorganic approach was found to be superior to the other treatments.