Productivity enhancement of rice through crop establishment techniques for livelihood improvement in Eastern Himalayas

Abstract

Performance of three crop establishment methods viz., system of rice intensification (SRI), integrated crop management (ICM) and farmer's practice (conventional rice culture)were evaluated during the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 at farmers field, Longleng District of Nagaland to assess the most suitable establishment methods of rice for higher productivity and profitability. Results revealed that ICM recorded significantly higher grain yield as compared to SRI and the farmers' practices during both the years. The ICM and SRI method of rice cultivation produced 44.5 and 41.2 % higher grain yield as compared to the farmer's practices, respectively. Similarly, the gross returns (Rs.46850 ha-1), net returns (Rs.24730 ha-1) and benefit: cost ratio (2.15) was recorded significantly highest under ICM. Among all crop establishment methods, the farmer's practice recorded least profit. Hence, the existing farmer's practices can be profitably replaced with adoption of ICM and SRI methods of crop establishment under the foot hill of Eastern Himalayas.