On–Farm Evaluation of Management Practices of Rice and Wheat in Sub-Montane Subtropical Low Hills Zone of Himachal Pradesh

An on-farm experiment was conducted in sub-montane and low hills sub-tropical zone of Himachal Pradesh to study the impact of application of recommended dose of nutrients and full package of practices as against farmers’ practice in rice-wheat cropping sequence under irrigated conditions. The treatments were evaluated at eight locations for three consecutive cropping seasons of 2004–05 to 2006–07. Results of the study revealed that single intervention of applying recommended fertilizer nutrients over the existing farmer's practice increased the overall grain yields of rice and wheat by about 23 and 32 per cent, respectively. The application of full recommended package of practices further increased rice and wheat yields by about 9 and 17 per cent whereas rice equivalent yield and net returns by about 42 and 51 per cent over the farmer's practice.