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Not AvailableRice is a major cereal crop in Himachal Pradesh, a Himalayan state of India, wherepaddy acreage is about 78,000 ha with a low average yield of 19.62 q ha−1due torainfed upland farming. High seeding rates and poor resource-use efficiency of con-ventional fertilizer nitrogen (N) management practices in rainfed upland paddy havealso been major production constraints in rainfed upland ecosystems. To validate andrefine the production technology on seed rate and fertilizer N management, the FarmScience Centre, Sundernagar, India, conducted numerous on-farm trials (OFTs) dur-ing 2006–2010 under an on-farm participatory technology development approach toenhance resource use efficiency through these resource conservation technologies andboost the paddy productivity in the region. Results of two OFTs conducted during Kharif2006 in the Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh on different seed rates under differentsowing methods on VL Dhan-221 and Sukaradhan-1 (HPR-1156) cultivars suitable forrainfed upland conditions revealed that the seed rate at 80 kg ha−1sown in rows 20 cmapart resulted in the greatest average paddy productivity to the tune of 25.6 q ha−1besides greater profitability, followed by a seed rate at 60 kg ha−1sown in rows 20 cmapart (25.2 q ha−1), over the earlier State Agricultural University (SAU)–recommendedpractice, that is, seed rate at 100 kg ha−1in rows 20 cm apart. This refinement in theseed rate was accepted by the participating farmers of the region. The greatest averagebenefit/cost (B/C) ratio was observed in plots with seed rate at 60 kg ha−1sown inrows 20 cm apart. Based on these results and data compilation from other locations ofthe state, now the SAU has refined the seed rate from earlier recommendation of 100 kgha−1to 60 kg ha−1in rows 20 cm apart as well as 80 kg ha−1through broadcast methodunder rainfed upland paddy in Himachal Pradesh. Results of two OFTs conducted dur-ing Kharif 2009 on integrated nutrient management in rainfed upland paddy revealedthat farmyard manure (FYM) at 10 t ha−1+nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N, P,K) at 15:30:30 kg ha−1at sowing followed by 15 kg N ha−115 days after sowing (DAS)and remaining the N [i.e., 30 kg N ha−1] at tillering (45–50 DAS) resulted in the great-est grain yield of 29.85 and 31.67 q ha−1in VL Dhan-221 and HPR-1156, respectively,with respective greater yields of 35.99 and 36.51% over farmers’ practice, besides bet-ter profitability. To further standardize fertilizer N split doses and assess their effecton paddy productivity, another OFT was conducted during Kharif 2010 under rainfedupland paddy conditions in HPR-1156. The results revealed that NPK at 60:30:30 kgha−1(whole of P and K as basal, 50% N at 15 DAS, 25% N each at 45–50 DAS and 70–75 DAS splits) resulted in better grain yield (34.3 q ha−1) and net profitability(`29,786 ha−1) over other treatments. Overall, it is concluded that these resource con-servation technologies developed under the OFT participatory approach can enhancethe rainfed upland paddy productivity and strongly show that there is dire need to splitthe N requirement of rainfed upland paddy in 2–3 splits to reduce the fertilizer N losses,enhance resource-use efficiency, and increase productivity and profitability in HimachalPradesh, IndiaNot Availabl