EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SEED RATES ON RICE YIELD FOLLOWING DSR TECHNOLOGY IN POTOHAR REGION

Rice is the most important cereal crop that plays a multifarious role in the agricultural economy of Pakistan along with its utilization as second staple crop after wheat. The production capacity of varieties in all crops mainly depend on optimized seed rate. We carried out this study at Rice Program NARC during the kharif 2021 to find out the optimal seed rate of most cultivated varieties of fine (Super Basmati) and coarse rice (IR-6) in Pakistan by using direct seeded rice (DSR) drill sowing method with four varied seed rates i.e 11kg, 9kg, 7kg and 5kg/acre. Paddy yield depended on different yield related attributes i.e plant height, total number of plants/m2, total tillers/m2, number of productive tillers/m2, panicle length, number of grains/m2 and yield. Our results indicated that maximum grain yield was obtained at seed rate 11kg (3149.915 kg/acre and 1598.565kg/acre) in IR-6 and Super basmati respectively. Lowest yield was observed at 5kg seed rate (2239.34kg/acre and 836.38kg/acre) in IR-6 and Super Basmati. Based on these findings, it is concluded that using optimal seeding rate of 11kg/acre for direct seeded fine and coarse rice cultivars is beneficial in terms of productive tillers and higher yield.