Farmer’s participatory varietal evaluation for growth and yield attributing traits of sali paddy varieties in Dhemaji district of Assam

Abstract

A participatory varietal selection trial on winter Rice (Oryza sativa L.) was conducted at farmer’s field of Dhemaji district of Assam with an objective to identify high yielding promising rice varieties suitable for marginal soils and farmer’s interests during Sali season 2022. Four submergence tolerance high yielding winter rice varieties (STRV) along with six local varieties were laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Data on various growth and yield parameters revealed that STRV Swarna sub1 produced highest number of grains per panicle (200.00) with filled grain percentage (98.10%), spikelet fertility (96%), grain yield (5.10 t/ha) and harvest index percentage (20.82%). The number of panicles per meter square was highest in STRV Bina dhan11 (445) and the lowest in Bora dhan (148.00). The STRV Ranjit sub1 produced the highest length of panicle (28.33 cm) and total biomass at harvest (26.72 t/ha). All the STRV’s and Bas dhan were semi dwarf in nature and non-lodging. The STRV Bina dhan11 and Bas dhan were short duration varieties (120 days physiological maturity) and other eight varieties were long duration varieties (150-155 days). On participatory varietal evaluation, farmers preference score was found maximum in STRV Ranjit sub1 which signifies this variety has some traits (length of panicle, total biomass at harvest) of farmer preference.