Establishment and weed management effects on yield of lowland rice (Oryza sativa)

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted during the rainy (kharif) seasons of 2016 and 2017 in the experimental farm of SASRD, NU, Medziphema campus to evaluate the efficacy of various weed management practices in different rice establishment methods for improving productivity and weed control. Results revealed minimum weed density and dry matter and maximum weed control efficiency in integrated crop management (ICM) while the opposite was observed in System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Significantly lower weed density and dry weight and higher weed control efficiency was observed under HW twice at 20 and 40 days after transplanting (DAT) among the weed management methods. SRI gave better crop growth in both the years. In terms of grain yield, SRI and ICM produced 17.5 and 12.2% higher grain yield respectively over CTR. Among the weed management methods, hand weeding at 20 and 40 DAT recorded 81% higher grain yield of rice over control.