~ 337 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2019; 9(1): 337-342 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2020; 9(1): 337-342 Received: 07-11-2019 Accepted: 09-12-2019 Ardith Sankar Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Avijit Sen Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Ram Kumar Singh Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India P Raha Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Y Singh Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India JK Singh Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India VK Srivastava Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: Avijit Sen Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Effect of organics, hydrogel and Trichoderma on the yield and economics of direct seeded rice under rainfed condition Ardith Sankar, Avijit Sen, Ram Kumar Singh, P Raha, Y Singh, JK Singh, VK Srivastava Abstract Variability of monsoon is a major constraint for crop production. Uncertain and uneven precipitation under rainfed conditions affects the physiology of the crop resulting in poor productivity. Problems aggravate if dry conditions persist for a longer period. Increasing the productivity of water used in agriculture thus becomes essential to meet goals of food and nutritional security. Water and nutrient availability is of utmost importance which contributes to the growth and productivity of rice where nutrient uptake is often hindered due to the limitation of moisture. In view of the above, an experiment was conducted in the kharif seasons of 2016 and 2017 in the Agricultural Research Farm, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University to find the effect of D-18 compost, farm yard manure, Trichoderma and hydrogel in different combinations on the performance of the crop. Two varieties viz., DRR 42 and IR 64- the isolines were chosen to conduct the comparative study of their performance under different treatment combinations. It was a factorial experiment with 14 treatment combinations laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The results revealed that D-18 compost and Trichoderma were superior to other treatments with respect to grain yield, straw yield, panicles m -2 , filled spikelets panicle -1 . DRR 42, a drought tolerant variety, produced more grain yield (3.26 t ha -1 ) and remained significantly superior to IR 64 (3.05 t ha -1 ). DRR 42 registered higher input-output ratio (2.00) and was significantly superior to IR 64 (1.87). Among the soil/seed treatments, D-18 compost + Trichoderma sp. registered the highest yield although remained statistically at par with all other treatments except control. D-18 compost+ Trichoderma sp. also showed maximum input-output ratio. It was therefore clear that use of D-18 compost+ Trichoderma sp. could improve the productivity of DRR 42 by increasing its stress tolerance capacity under rainfed condition. Keywords: Organics, hydrogel, Trichoderma, yield, economics Introduction Rice being the staple food of nearly half the population of the world is at a pivotal position to ensure food security of the world. Agriculture is now facing the era of water scarcity where availability of water is declining day by day. Under such situations, direct seeding of rice- an emerging popular technique (Kaur and Singh, 2017) [9] - offers advantages like faster and easier planting, less labour and drudgery, earlier crop maturity (by 7–10 days), higher profit, more efficient water use and higher tolerance to water deficit (Balasubramanian and Hill, 2002) [2] . With decreasing fresh water productivity, it is necessary to work out strategies for increasing the efficiency of rainfall and its optimal utilization - a major challenge to the sustainable rice production (Guerra et al., 1998) [7] . Hydrogels are defined as polymeric materials which exhibit the abilities of swelling by absorbing moisture and retaining a significant fraction of water within their structure (Ahmed, 2015) [1] . Taking into account the water imbibing properties of hydrogels, the possibility of their application in agricultural field is increasingly being investigated to alleviate certain agricultural problems. Use of farm yard manure (FYM) and compost has been an age-old practice in the field of agriculture for improving soil health and supplying nutrients to the crops (Chandra, 2005). A mass of rotten organic matter made from waste is called compost. The wastes include available farm wastes like sugarcane trash, paddy straw, weeds, plant litter and other whole plants. On an average, the nutrient contents of farm compost are 1.0 per cent N, 0.5 per cent P 2 O 5 and 1.1 per cent K 2 O (Das, 2013) [5] . D-18 is a type of compost which is prepared by placing the above wastes layer by layer in iron cage of suitable sizes and each layer is well moisturized by sprinkling enough cowdung slurry or water. Application of farm yard manures and compost increases the porosity of the soil resulting in decreased bulk density, higher water holding capacity, infiltration rate and conductivity.