Abstract
Facing cold stress is amajor constraint in seedling production during the winter season as, most particularly in recent times due to uncertain climatic conditions, no sustainable technology has been reported that could be easily adopted by farmers withlimited resources. Therefore, field experiments were carried out during winter 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 at the Central Research Farm of Bidhan Chandra KrishiViswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India to study the growth, survival potential, yield and nutritional and biochemical properties of boro rice seedlings as influenced by two seedbed management practices viz. conventional seedbed (farmers' practice) and improved seedbed (polythene protected with micronutrient supplementation). The major objective was to lower the nurserybed duration without compromising seedlings' health and to studythe economic viability during the winter season. The experiment was laid out in ten experimental units and deployed anindependent-sample t-test to compare the performance of the seedlings. The microclimatic changes were also itemized from both seedbeds. The seeds sownunder improved nursery conditions resulted in better seedling emergence (~90%) and survival percentage (~85%) as compared to the conventional seedbed (~70% and 65%). Growth attributes in terms of plant height, biomass accumulation, root characteristics, tiller count, and growth rate were observed to be better from the polythene-protected nursery bed. Theimproved nursery bed accounted for 20% higher seedling count at the time of transplantation over the conventional bed. The microclimatic situation under a polythene covering was also favorable for germination and seedling growth. Maximum nutrient (N, P, and K) concentrations, as well as chlorophyll content, wererecorded from improved seedlings. Results suggested that the improved seedbed management was apotential alternative toearly embolden seedling production during the winter to avoid climatic abnormalities. Most importantly, improved seedbeds ensured a comprehensive route from germination to healthy seedling production without any failure in thesmalltime window, which involvedless input as well as cost involvement. This technique could diffusethe problem oflate sowing conditions in the rice-rice cropping system.