Seed Hydro-Priming and In-Situ Moisture Conservation of Direct Seeded Rice: Effects on Emergence, Productivity, Root Behaviour and Weed Competitiveness

Uplands of eastern Himalayan region (EHR) of India occupy larger area under direct seeded (dibbling of seeds) rainfed rice. However, this region is associated with lower productivity of rice, which is mainly due to poor crop germination, establishment, frequent occurrences of intermittent soil moisture stress and weed infestation. One of the affordable approaches to alleviate shortfall associated with low productivity of rice in the region is seed hydro-priming (SP) with in situ soil moisture conservation measures. Therefore, an experiment on rain-fed direct seeded rice was conducted during two consecutive years (2011 and 2012) at EHR of India (27°95′N latitude and 94°76′E longitude, 662 m above MSL) to evaluate the effect of seed priming with different durations (0, 12, 18 and 24 h) and in situ furrows at various row intervals as moisture conservation measure on rice establishment, productivity, root behaviour and weed competitiveness. Results revealed that seed priming for 24 h duration significantly (p