Agronomic performances of indigenous aromatic rice cultivars under organic management practices during wet season

Indigenous aromatic small grain rice holds a significant position in local, national, and international markets due to their outstanding quality traits. The field experiment was conducted under the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Integrated Farming System under Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya at Gayeshpur, Nadia, and West Bengal during kharif season of 2022. The field experiment was conducted to explore the yield performances of indigenous aromatic rice cultivars under organic management for yield sustainability. Organic farming protocol was adopted in this experiment utilizing bio resources like cow urine and dung for seed treatment, organic manures like mustard oil cake and vermicompost, and biological pest control methods. In this experiment, seven different indigenous aromatic rice cultivars viz. Gobindabhog, Radhatilak, Radhunipagal, Kalojira, Harinakhuri, Lal Badshabhog and Dudheswar (local check) were tested. Among the cultivars, Kalojira performed significantly well with a grain yield of 2800 kg ha^-1which was 29.21% high as compared to local check Dudheswar (2017 kg ha^-1) under organic management in the new alluvial zone of West Bengal during wet season. Kalojira demonstrated comparable growth, yield attributes and yields when compared to the other five indigenous aromatic rice varieties studied. Furthermore, Kalojira also registered high net return amounting to Rs.62859/ha and had a favourable benefit-cost ratio (B:C ratio) of 2.22, outperforming the other varieties tested in this investigation.