Biometric observations of upland rice (<em>Oryza sativa</em> L.) as influenced by cropping geometry and <em>In situ</em> soil moisture conservation practices

Abstract

To study the influence of cropping geometry and in situ soil moisture conservation practices on biometric observations of upland rice (Oryza sativa L.), an experiment was conducted at college of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala, India, The treatments were laid out in randomized block design. Altered cropping geometries like normal planting (20cm x 10cm) and paired row planting (10cm x 10cm) with 40 cm between paired rows, different in situ soil moisture conservation practices such as live mulching of cowpea, hydrogel application and coirpith application were studied and evaluated statistically on growth parameters like plant height (30 DAS, 60 DAS and harvest), number of tillers m-2 (60 DAS) leaf area index (60 DAS) and dry matter production (60 DAS, harvest). Results disclosed a significant difference in biometric observations and the treatment T9 (Paired row planting with live mulching of cowpea, hydrogel and coir pith application) showed the highest plant height (109.13 cm), the maximum number of tillers m-2 (349.67), leaf area index (4.34) and dry matter production (5546 kg ha-1).