Effect of Date of Transplanting on Growth and Productivity of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars

Abstract

Background: In central Punjab, the primary cause of depleting underground water is early transplantation of long-duration rice varieties. Because of their growth in rainy days and early maturity, the cultivation of medium-duration varieties in the low evaporation period can help to migrate the over draft of underground water. Methods: The field experiment entitled “Effect of date of transplanting on growth and productivity of the rice (Oriza sativa L.) cultivars” was conducted at Research Farm of University College of Agriculture, Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda to study the impact of date of transplanting on growth and productivity of the rice cultivars during kharif season in 2019. The trail was laid out in split plot design with three dates of transplanting (June 15, June 25 and July 5) in main plot and three rice cultivars (PR 122, PR 126 and PUSA 44) in sub plot, replicated thrice. Result: Transplanting on 15 June crop recorded significantly higher plant height at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest viz. 67.4, 110.0 and 122.6 cm respectively; number of tillers at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest viz. 59.4, 58.2 and 46.2 respectively; leaf area index (LAI) at 60 DAT (3.1); dry matter accumulation (DMA) at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest viz. 8.5, 26.7 and 132.6 q/ha respectively; number of days taken to panicle initiation (57.6); number of days taken for 50 per cent flowering (64.1); effective tillers per meter row length (38.6); panicle length (26.1 cm); panicle weight (6.1 g); number of grains per panicle (177.9); 1000-grain weight (31.0g); grain yield (72.2 q/ha); straw yield (161.1 q/ha); harvest index (33.4%). The grain yield was at par with June 25. Among the cultivars, PUSA 44 recorded significantly higher plant height at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest viz. 70.6, 117.4 and 128.6 cm respectively; number of tillers at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest viz. 65.0, 60.3 and 50.4 respectively; leaf area index (LAI) at 60 DAT (3.4); dry matter accumulation (DMA) at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest viz. 9.5, 31.3 and 153.4 q/ha respectively; number of days taken to panicle initiation (65.2); number of days taken for 50 per cent flowering (68.7); effective tillers per meter row length (43.2); panicle length (27.5 cm); panicle weight (6.5 g); number of grains per panicle (195.7); 1000-grain weight (34.7g); grain yield (80.1 q/ha); straw yield (181.2 q/ha); harvest index (34.1%). June 15 transplanting produced significantly higher grain yield which was 1.5 and 6.4% higher than June 25 and July 5 transplanting respectively. PUSA 44 produced significantly higher grain yield which was 27.3 and 17.4% higher than PR 126 and PR 122 respectively. All the interaction effect of date of transplanting and rice cultivars recorded non-significant results.