Optimizing Seedling Number and Hill Spacing: A Way Forward to Harness Productivity Potential of Salt-Tolerant Rice Cultivars in Salt-Affected Soils

Abstract

Harnessing the potential of sodic soils in the Indo-Gangetic plains necessitates the development of salt-tolerant varieties and matching management practices as the management practices required for rice production in salt-affected soils are entirely different from those in normal soils. Field experiments with the main plots comprising two treatments T1:2 seedlings and T2:4 seedlings hill-1, subplot three hill spacing treatments S1: 15 x 15 cm, S2: 15x 20 cm, S3: 20 cm x 20 cm and sub–subplot with two salt-tolerant varieties V1: CSR 36, V2: CSR 43 were conducted at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (ICAR-CSSRI), Regional Research Station, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, during 2011, 2012 and 2013 kharif seasons to develop matching management practices for salt-tolerant varieties through optimizing the number of seedlings hill-1 and hill density to enhance productivity and profitability in saltaffected soils. The experiment was set up in split plot design replicated thrice. The results revealed that transplanting of 4 seedlings hill-1 at a hill spacing of 15 cm 9 20 cm proved better crop establishment and produced significantly higher grain yield over rest of the treatments. Planting of 4 seedlings hill-1 resulted in higher gross and net returns than planting of 2 seedlings hill-1. Transplanting of CSR 36 with 4 seedlings hill-1 at a hill spacing of 15 9 20 cm found superior in terms of grain yield, gross and net returns over CSR 43 with rest of the spacing treatments.