Complementary Effect of Soil Puddling, Submergence, and Organic Mattern on Rice Production
1977
Singh, N. T. | Josan, A. S. | Gupta, J. P.
Puddling of soil and submergence are common practices in lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation. Researchers, however, disagree on the merits associated with one or the other practice. Both the operations involve additional labor and water and thus deserve critical evaluation of their role in rice production. A field study was conducted on Choa sandy loam (a Typic Ustochrept) to compare the individual and combined effect of preplanting puddling of soil vs. no puddling and post-planting soil submergence vs. soil drained to field capacity. A,n additional treatment of organic matter at the rate of 5 metric tons/ha was included to increase biological reduction of the soil. All three practices significantly increased paddy yield. An average yield of 102.2 q/ha was obtained with continued soil submergence against that of 78.5 q/ha in plots where the soil water content was maintained between saturation and field capacity. The increase in paddy yield resulting from puddling and addition of organic matter was 15 q/ha and 8 q/ha, respectively. None of the practices seemed to be a substitute for the other. In fact, the combination gave a maximum paddy yield of 105.5 q/ha during 1972 and 121.5 q/ha during 1973. Maximum drop in soil Eh was observed with the addition of wheat straw followed by soil submergence and then puddling. The uptake of iron, zinc, and manganese by 45-day-old plants was neither related to soil Eb nor to the paddy yield. This study shows that both submergence and puddling are desirable practices in rice culture.
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