EFFECT OF DRIP IRRIGATION AND FERTIGATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SEVERAL RICE CULTIVARS IN DIFFERENT RICE ECOSYSTEMS IN INDIA

P. SOMAN¹*, M.S. PRASAD², V.R. BALASUBRAMANIAM³, SARWAN SINGH⁴, C. DHAVARAJAN⁵, V.B. PATIL⁶, SANJEEV JHA^7
1Research & Development Farms, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 India
²Research & Development Farms, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 India
³Research & Development Farms, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 India
⁴Research & Development Farms, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 India
⁵Research & Development Farms, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 India
⁶Research & Development Farms, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 India
⁷Research & Development Farms, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 India
* Corresponding Author : dr.soman@jains.com

Received : 14-07-2018     Accepted : 25-07-2018     Published : 30-07-2018
Volume : 10     Issue : 14       Pages : 6672 - 6675
Int J Agr Sci 10.14 (2018):6672-6675

Keywords : Paddy, drip-fertigation, DSR, TRP
Academic Editor : Dr K Bayyapu Reddy
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors express their gratitude to Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL), Jalgaon 425001 and each one of the farmers listed in the paper for their support and cooperation
Author Contribution : All authors contributed equally

It has been reported earlier that paddy crop responded well to irrigation and fertilizer application through drip (drip-fertigation). The study was extended to different paddy growing environments located in different States of India. Working with farmers in these ecologies, some 15 rice cultivars were grown with drip fertigation. These were planted either by direct seeding (DSR) or by transplanting seedlings from nursery (TRP). These studies were conducted in the rainy season (kharif) or rain –off season (rabi or early summer). Location specific irrigation and fertigation schedules were followed. For comparison, normal flooded rice was also grown in adjacent plots with traditional method of irrigation (flood) and fertilizer application. The results confirmed that drip-fertigation offers clear advantage for rice production; yields are higher and water consumption lower in drip compared to flood, irrespective of the cultivar, planting method, season and location. While rice yields in drip were as high as 11.61 t/ha, the incremental yield enhancement due to drip-fertigation (over that in flood method) ranged from 14.7 % to 29.9%.

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