Trends in Non Basmati Rice Productivity and Factors of Yield Gap in Jammu Region

Yield gap in non basmati rice exists at farm level as farmers use suboptimal doses of inputs and hardly follow recommended technology. The highest yield may be obtained only under favourable physical, technological and environmental conditions including soil fertility, well distributed rainfall and so on. The study conducted in Jammu Division of J&K state to analyse the productivity trends and factors of yield gap showed that according to farmers’ opinion, the major contributors of low farm level yields are improper management practices for irrigation, seed quality, fertilizer management, harvesting and weed control practices. The district wise yield gaps showed highest gaps in Kathua, Kistwar, Udhampur and Doda district of J&K state. Contribution of various critical inputs towards yield loses were analysed on the basis of on farm trials in Kathua district and it was found that the losses in order og magnitude were from weeds (22–41%), cultivar selection and quality of seed (21%) diseases (17%) and nutrient (13%) respectively. The study suggested that a large portion of the untapped potential farm yield could be exploited by using optimum inputs and by adopting appropriate production techniques without incurring additional cost.