Studies on Methods of Nursery Raising to Combat Cold Injury in Rabi Rice

Abstract

A field study was conducted during rabi season 2003-04 at College Farm, Rajen­dranagar, Hyderabad, India, to evaluate the effect of low temperature and to study the methods of nursery raising and nursery management practices using rice variety JGL 1798. The treatments consisted of two methods of nursery rising- dry and wet nursery, and three nursery protection practices- without protection, protection with poly tunnel, and locally available used fertilizer bags. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Block Design with four replications. The size of the nursery plot was 2 m x 1.5 m, which was fertilized with uniform dose of 1 kg N, 1.5 kg P2O5 and 0.5 kg K2O for 100 m2 area. The minimum ambient temperature observed during nursery period in wet and dry nursery without protection was 7-19oC. The ambient temperatures in the poly tunnel protection increased by 4-5oC and with fertilizer bags the increase was 3-4oC in wet and dry nursery over control. At the time of transplant­ing, the seedlings root length in wet and dry nursery without protection was less than the nursery protected with poly tunnel and fertilizer bag. The root and shoot length was higher in wet nursery protected with poly tunnel and fertilizer bag over that of dry nursery. The grain yield of crop transplanted with wet nursery was significantly superior over that of transplanted with dry nursery. The grain yield of crop transplanted with nursery raised under poly tunnel and fertilizer bags were on par.