Yield and morpho physical characters of some modern aus rice varieties at Khagrachari

Aus, aman and boro are three rice cultivating seasons in Bangladesh. Among these aus is the least cultivated and grown in comparatively small scale due to prevailing drought and less availability of surface water for irrigation. Modern varieties of aus rice cover a significant area of the country conversely local cultivars cover a small area. Aus rice requires much fewer inputs than aman and boro. Due to continuous declination of groundwater level, nowadays more emphasis is given on the extension of aus cultivation throughout the country. The present field study tested yield and morphological attributes of six developed aus rice varieties viz. Binadhan-14, Binadhan-19, BRRI dhan43, BRRI dhan48, BRRI dhan55 and BRRI dhan65 to characterize yield, maturity and phenological properties. The field trial was set at Satvaiyapara of Khagrachari during 2018 following Randomized Complete Block design with dispersed plots. All data were collected at harvest and analysed statistically by Statistix 10. Findings revealed that statistically highest grain yield was produced from BRRI dhan55 (4.49 t/ha) and BRRI dhan48 (4.48 t/ha); the lowest by BRRI dhan65 (3.06 t/ ha). The yield of Binadhan-19 (4.37 t/ha) and Binadhan-14 (3.87 t/ha) was intermediate. In case of maturity, Binadhan-19 (99.33 days) had the shortest life duration and BRRI dhan48 (113.67 days), the longest. The greater portion of the farmers was keen to grow Binadhan-19 and Binadhan-14 instead of BRRI dhan43 and BRRI dhan48 mainly for its short duration, optimal yield, long and slender quality grain. Binadhan-19 might be a promising aus variety in the Khagrachari hill tracts for gaining favourable yield within a short time. Therefore, further studies are needed in jhum cultivation with local cultivars for more significant comparison and acceptability to the rice farming community.