Bed, Planting density, Puddle, Ridge, Unpuddle
The effect of establishment methods and seedling density on weed dynamics, pest incidence and productivity of transplanted rice were evaluated in a field study, conducted in summer 2019 at Ludhiana, India.Three rice establishment methods [rice transplanted on puddled flat soil (PFTR), rice transplanted on unpuddled raised bed (UBTR), rice transplanted on unpuddled ridge (URTR)] in main plots, and three planting densities (20, 25, 33 seedling hills/m2) in sub-plots were evaluated in a split-plot design. It was found that UBTR and URTR methods had higher weed biomass than PFTR at 20 and 70 days after transplanting (DAT). All three establishment methods gave similar rice grain yield. Increase in planting density from 20 to 33 seedling hills/m2 reduced weed biomass at 20 and 70 DAT but at 45 DAT, all the planting densities had similar weed biomass. Likewise, there was consistent decline in rice grain yield due to reduction in planting densities but differences among consecutive planting densities were not significant. The incidence of insect-pest remained below economic threshold level under all treatments.