VARIETAL PERFORMANCE OF SPRING RICE SEEDLINGS AGAINST COLD STRESS IN WESTERN TERAI OF NEPAL

Abstract

Rice is an important commodity in Nepalese agriculture occupying 1.46-million-hectare area, where 92% area falls under main (Barkhe) season and 7% under spring (Chaite) season. Among various constraints for spring rice seedling raising, cold stress during early seedling establishment is the major one. To address the problem, an on-station trial entitled “varietal performance of spring rice seedlings against cold stress in Western Terai of Nepal” was conducted from February to March, 2021 at Horticulture research farm of Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi. Research was carried out in Completely Randomized Design with two growing environment (inside and outside polyhouse) as main factor and seven varieties as sub-factor, each replicated three times. Spring rice varieties includes five released varieties (Hardinath-1, Hardinath-3, Hardinath Hybrid-1, Hardinath Hybrid-3, Chaite-5) and two promising varieties (IR-1008 and PR 126). Data related to growth of seedling were collected at one week interval up to 5 weeks. Significant difference was observed within two environmental conditions on days to germination parameters, shoot length, root length, seedling dry weight and leaf area. The values for all the parameters were found maximum in seedlings inside the polyhouse as compared to that of outside polyhouse and in the variety Hardinath – 1. For early transplanting of spring rice, it was found better to choose Hardinath- 1 variety and raise seedlings under polyhouse nursery to escape cold stress.