Maximizing Productivity and Profitability of Rice through Crop Establishment Methods and Weed Management Practices in Winter Rice-Garden Pea Relay Cropping System

A field experiment was conducted at the farmer’s field at Pirakata Brahmin Gaon under the jurisdiction of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jorhat to study resource conservation through crop establishment methods and weed management practices in winter rice (Oryza sativa. L.) - garden pea (Pisum sativum var. hortense) relay cropping system during 2019-20 & 2020-21. The treatment consisted of four crop establishment methods of winter rice (T) viz., T1: WDSR (Broadcasting), T2: WDSR (Modified Drum Seeder with furrow opener), T3: PTR (Farmers’ Practice), T4: PTR (Mechanized Transplanting by paddy transplanter) where WDSR: Wet Direct Seeded Rice, PTR: Puddled Transplanted Rice along with three weed management practices of rice (W) viz., W0: Weedy check, W1: Pretilachlor 0.75 kg/ha as pre-emergence fb bispyribac-sodium 0.025 kg/ha (20 DAS/DAT) as post-emergence, W2: Pretilachlor 0.75 kg/ha as pre-emergence fb manual weeding (30 DAS/DAT). The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. The soil of the experimental site was sandy clay loam in texture, medium acidic in reaction, medium in organic carbon and available N and low in available P2O5 and K2O. The study revealed that the establishment method that T2, T3 and T4 had higher growth and yield parameters of the crop as compared to T1: WDSR (B) which resulted in higher grain and straw yield of winter rice as well as uptake of nutrients. The highest grain yield of 49.79 and 50.13 q/ha of winter rice was recorded under T4: PTR (MTR) followed by 46.62 and 47.8 q/ha in T2: WDSR (Drum seeder) during 2019 and 2020, respectively. The percent increase in grain yield of winter rice in W1 and W2 as compared to W0 (control) was 82.97, 84.52 in 2019 and 81.62, 81.58, respectively in 2020. The treatment combination T4W2 recorded the highest grain and straw yield of winter rice which was statistically at par with T4W1, T2W1 and T2W2. The higher B:C of 2.27 and 2.14 was recorded in T2W1 with higher gross return and net return followed by T2W2 (2.18 and 2.08 during 2019 and 2020, respectively).