managementPrior to the 2012 WS experiment, the land was dry cultivatedusing a twin-axle tractor with discings followed by two passes ofa tractor-mounted rotavator. For the puddled treatments, the soilwas irrigated three days before puddling (three passes) using apower tiller. The test variety used in this study was NSIC Rc222(IR154), a short duration (110 d) variety. DSR was sown on 17 May2012 (2012 WS) and 2 December 2012 (2013 DS). The rice seedswere sown at 45 kg ha−1with a 4-wheel tractor-drawn seed drillat a row spacing of 20 cm and depths of 1–2 cm. For all estab-lishment methods except DSR, the seeds were soaked in waterfor 24 h. The seeds were then incubated for 8-10 hours prior tosowing by a drum-seeder on puddled (WSR) and nonpuddled soil(NWSR), and on the seedbed for raising nursery for the trans-planted treatments. The 17-day-old seedlings were transplantedat 20 cm × 20 cm geometry on well-puddled soil