Indian Journal of Agronomy

A field experiment was conducted from the rainy (kharif) season of 2012 to the winter (rabi) season of 2013–14 at Research Farm, Main Campus, Chatha of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, to find out a suitable combination of soil organic amendments for Basmati rice. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with 3 replications. The main plot treatments comprised 4 Basmati cultivars, viz. ‘Basmati 370’, ‘Basmati 564’, ‘Saanwal Basmati’ and ‘Ranbir Basmati’, and subplots consisted of 6 treatments of soil organic amendments, viz. T₁, control (recommended fertilizer dose); T₂, in-situ green manuring of dhaincha [Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight] on N basis; T₃, in-situ green manuring of dhaincha followed by application of vermicompost on N basis (1: 1); T₄, in-situ green manuring of dhaincha followed by application of vermicompost and mulching with dhaincha on N basis (1: 1: 1); T₅, in-situ green manuring of dhaincha followed by application of farmyard manure on N basis (1: 1); and T₆, in-situ green manuring of dhaincha followed by application of farmyard manure and mulching with dhaincha on N basis (1: 1: 1), were applied on nitrogen basis @ 30 kg/ha. Among the Basmati cultivars, ‘Basmati 564’ and ‘Saanwal Basmati’ were significantly superior to ‘Basmati 370’ and ‘Ranbir Basmati’. Application of recommended fertilizer dose (30: 20: 10 kg/ha) N: P₂O₅: K₂O resulted in significantly highest yield attributes and yield of Basmati rice over organic-applied treatments. There was nonsignificant effect among the Basmati cultivars and soil organic applied treatments with respect to grain quality. However, organic applied treatments were found superior in improving the grain quality and thus, hold a great promise in organic-applied treatments on aerobically grown Basmati rice.