Early transplanting of rainfed rice minimizes irrigation demand by utilizing rainfall

Abstract Background Rainfall is the key contributor to provide soil moisture for wet season rice (T. Aman) cultivation. Erratic rainfall often causes water shortage resulting negative impact on plant growth and grain yield. The study aimed determine suitable transplanting window that utilize maximum T. Aman rice. Firstly, three years field experiment were conducted in Kushtia, Bangladesh from Aman, 2013 2015, then findings implemented another two adjacent locations, Panba Rajshahi. considered six dates of popular cultivar BR11 (growth duration 145 days) at 7 days interval starting 10 July 14 August. CROPWAT 8.0 model was used calculate crop requirement (CWR), effective irrigation demand (ID) collected weather data each phase Results In all locations received enormous up vegetative no tested years. early more reproductive than late planting. Thus, Irrigation increased with delay moderate drought prone Pabna A significant relationship (R 2 = 0.71) observed between ID yield, while yield responded weakly ripening phase. Based performance 10–24 found Kushtia. Considering 10–17 best Rajshahi, respectively. Conclusions Location specific windows selected considering minimum Delay demanded reduced Whereas, utilized rainfall, stage ensured desired