DOI: https://doi.org/10.21276/AATCCReview.2024.12.04.28

Abstract

In recent years, conventional rice production technologies have been leading to the deterioration of soil health and declining farm profitability due to high inputs of water and labor. Conservation agriculture (CA) based resource-conserving technologies i.e. zero-tillage (ZT), raised-bed planting, and unpuddled transplanted rice have shown promise as alternatives to conventional production technologies to overcome these problems. The present study was undertaken during 2015–2019 to establish an understanding of how rice establishment techniques could be practiced to save water at the field application level to improve water productivity and also have the capability to enhance productivity, profitability, and rice quality. The results showed that among different crop establishment techniques, conventional-tilled puddle transplanted rice (CT-TPR) required 14% to 25% more water than other techniques. Compared with the CT-TPR system, zero till direct-seeded rice (ZT-DSR) consumed 6%–10% less water with almost equal system productivity and demonstrated higher water productivity. Wide raised beds saved about 15%–24% water and grain yield decreased by about 8%. Direct-seeded rice after ZT or reduced tillage or on unpuddled soil provided more net income than CT-TPR.India possesses an immense wealth of Basmati and -non-Basmati aromatic rice varieties and landraces exhibiting a wide variability in their grain quality and cooking characteristics. In the present study forty varieties of Basmati and -non-Basmati aromatic rice were evaluated for their physical and quality characteristics. Among all quality characteristics aroma was considered as the most important quality parameter of high-quality rice. In our study aroma ranged from very low to strong. The gelatinizing temperature ranged from low to high intermediate category. This was indirectly decided by alkali digestion score which ranged from 7.0 to 2.0. Cooked kernel length, cooked kernel breadth, elongation ratio, gel consistency, and amylose content were also recorded. Various grain quality parameters of these varieties/lines were compared to premium Dehradun basmati 3020.The study reveals that to sustain rice productivity, CA-based planting techniques can be more viable options. However, the long-term effects of these alternative technologies need to be studied under varying agro-ecologies at texturally divergent soils in western Uttar Pradesh, India.The biochemical makeup, eating quality, and cooking quality of rice are all impacted by the methods used in rice establishment, which in turn affects the rice’s overall food and nutritional security. To ensure sustainable food supplies and enhance rice quality, these methods must be optimized

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