Effect of Sowing and Harvesting Times on Growth Characters and Grain Yield of Rabi Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Aim: To determine the optimum sowing and harvesting times to realize better performance of growth characters and higher grain yield in rice during rabi.

Study Design: Strip plot.

Place and Duration of Study: Rice Research Centre, Agricultural Research Institute, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad between November 2021 to May 2022.

Methodology: The experiment was assigned in eighteen treatments,laid out in strip plot with three replications.Treatments included were 3 treatments of varieties (i) M1=Telangana sona (short slender) (ii) M2= Jagtial rice 1( Medium sender) (iii) M3= Chintu (short slender) and 6 sowing and harvesting times (i) S1 = Normal sowing time (November 15) and harvesting at physiological maturity (ii) S2= Normal sowing time (November 15) and harvesting at 7 days after physiological maturity(iii) S3 = Delay sowing by 15 days (November 30) and harvesting at physiological maturity (iv) S4 = Delay sowing by 15 days (November 30) and harvesting at 7 days after physiological maturity(v) S5 = Delay sowing by 30 days (December 15) and harvesting at physiological maturity(vi) S6= Delay sowing by 30 days (December 15) and harvesting at 7 days after physiological maturity randomly placed in subplots of the main plot.

Results: Significantly higher plant height (93.8 cm), dry matter accumulation (14263 kg ha-1), grain yield (6127 kg ha-1) was observed in Telangana sona (M1), while significantly higher number of tillers m-2 (566) were found in Chintu (M3). Similarly, maximum plant height (94.4 cm), number of tillers m-2(462), dry matter accumulation (14501 kg ha-1), grain yield (6235 kg ha-1) was noticed at Delay sowing by 30 days (December 15) and harvesting at physiological maturity (S5). The lowest plant height, dry matter accumulation, grain yield was recorded in Chintu (M3), while lowest number of tillers were recorded in Jagtial rice 1 (M2) and above parameters were recorded lowest at Normal sowing time (November 15) and harvesting at 7 days after physiological maturity (S2).

Conclusion: Among varieties, Telangana sona (M1) performed better in terms of growth characters and grain yield. Delay sowing by 30 days (December 15) and harvesting at physiological maturity (S5) revealed better performance in terms of growth characters and grain yield under the present study during rabi conditions.