Effect of Land Preparation Methods and Planting Geometry on Growth Parameters of Machine Transplanted Rice (Oryza sativa)

Field experiment on “Effect of land preparation methods and planting geometry on growth and yield of machine transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.)” was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Gangavathi, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka during kharif, 2012 and 2013 in clay soil under irrigated condition. Pooled mean indicated that, among the different land preparation methods and planting geometry puddling with rotovator fb levelling with spike tooth harrow and planting geometry of 30 x 21 cm recorded significantly higher growth parameters viz., plant height (92.59 and 92.03 cm, respectively) at harvest, number of leaves at 60 DAT (86.29 and 91.67, respectively), number of tillers (699.75 and 773.61 m⁻², respectively), leaf area per plant (877 and 983cm², respectively), grain yield (4906 and 5192 kg ha⁻¹, respectively), straw yield (6247 and 6508 kg ha⁻¹, respectively), Puddling with rotovator fb levelling with spike tooth harrow and f 30 x 21 cm spacing were found better for transplanting of rice by self propelled mechanical transplanter.