Effect of Planting Techniques and Nutrient Management Options on Crop Productivity and Soil Health of Wet Rice (Oryza sativa L) in Typic Ustochrept Soils

A two years field experiment was carried out in sandy loam soil during rainy (Kharif) seasons in 2019-2020 at CRC farm of sardar vallabhbhai patel university of agricultural & technology, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to evaluate the various Planting techniques and integrated nutrient management on yield and soil health of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under rice- wheat copping system. The treatments comprised of two Planting techniques i.e., E1-Conventional puddled transplanted rice (CT- TPR), E2- Wide bed Transplanted rice (W Bed-TPR) and Nine Nutrient management practices {N1- Control, N2- 100% RDF + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1, N3- 125% RDN + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1, N4- STCR based NPK application + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1, N5- N2+ FYM (5 t ha-1), N6- N2+ FYM (5 t ha-1) + PSB (5 kg ha-1)+ Azotobactor 20 kg ha-1, N7- 75% RDN + FYM (5 t ha-1) + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1, N8-75% RDN + FYM (5 t ha-1) + PSB (5 kg ha-1) + Azotobactor 20 kg ha-1 + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1, N9- Organics Practices @ FYM (30 t ha-1)+PSB (5 kg ha-1) + Azotobactor 20 kg ha-1 + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1} are laid down in Factorial Randomized block design and replicated thrice. The results indicated that among the different Planting techniques (PTs), conventional puddled transplanted rice (E1, CT-TPR) was recorded significantly higher grain yield (40.4 & 41.3 q ha-1), straw yield (62.7 & 63.8 q ha-1), NPK content and uptake and also improved soil health status ie., available NPK, organic carbon and other physical properties i.e, Bulk density, EC, pH in soil than wide bed transplanted rice (E2, W Bed-TPR) during both years of kharif 2019 & 2020 respectively. Among the nutrient management practices, the N6 (100% RDF + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1 + FYM (5 t ha-1) + PSB (5 kg ha-1)+ Azotobactor 20 kg ha-1 ) treatment produced significantly higher grain yield (49.0 & 50.2 q ha-1), straw yield (81.2 & 82.8 q ha-1), NPK content and uptake, and available NPK organic carbon in soil than the other treatments, which were comparable to the N3 (125% RDN + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1) treatment and the lowest in the control treatment N1, respectively. Thus, the results suggest that inclusion of inorganic fertilizer along with organic manure (FYM) enhanced the rice yield Therefore, application of conventional puddled transplanted rice (E2, CT-TPR) along with N6 (100% RDF + ZnSO4 25 kg ha-1 + FYM (5 t ha-1) + PSB (5 kg ha-1)+ Azotobactor 20 kg ha-1 ) found beneficial to increase productivity and soil health of rice crop.