Yield and physiological response of newly released rice (Oryza sativa) varieties to crop establishment methods under temperate conditions of Kashmir

A field experiment was undertaken during rainy (kharif) season of 2015 and 2016 to assess the effect of crop establishment methods, viz. system of rice intensification (SRI), direct seeded rice (DSR), recommended method (RM) and farmers’ practice (FP) on the performance of 4 newly released high yielding rice (Oryza sativa L.) variet-ies, viz. ‘SR-1’, ‘SR-2’, ‘SR-3’ and ‘Jhelum’. SRI method significantly improved growth parameters (plant height, tiller-number, leaf-area index, light interception, root dry weight and root volume), physiological parameters (photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate) and nutrient (NPK) uptake of all the varieties. The average increase in grain yield in SRI, DSR and RM was 22%, 14% and 6.0% over FP, respectively. Among the varieties, ‘SR-1’ and ‘SR-2’ produced 9.5% and 16.8% higher grain yield over ‘Jhelum’, which was at par with ‘SR-3’. However, the highest net returns and benefit: cost ratio was recorded in DSR and ‘SR-2’ rice variety.