A comprehensive study was made to assess the agronomic, economic, environmental, and energy efficiencies of direct-seeded rice (DSR) under wet (puddled) condition as compared to the conventional farmers’ practice (FP) of growing puddled transplanted rice (PTR) across different agroecological zones in Assam during sali (kharif) and boro (rabi) seasons. The study revealed that the DSR consistently outperformed the FP-PTR in respect of grain yield, with the highest increase in Barak Valley Zone (BVZ)

by 1.65 t/ha and Central Brahmaputra Valley Zone (CBVZ) by 1.35 t/ha while achieving maximum yield in BVZ (5.75 t/ha). Profitability with DSR was also found superior to that of FP-TPR, with the highest record of net profit (` 85,000/ha) in Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone (UBVZ). Agronomic traits, such as effective tillers and grains/panicle were consistently better in DSR, while biomass production ranged from 12.95 to 14.74 t/ha, surpassing that of FP-PTR. Environmental benefits of DSR were evidenced in terms of reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with lowering of total emissions by 29.5% as compared to that

of FP-PTR. Carbon dioxide (CO^₂) emissions dropped by 53.4%, whilst methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions reduced by 7.7 and 9.6%, respectively, positioning DSR as a climate-smart production practice. Energy analyses highlighted the sustainability of DSR, requiring lower input energy (13.6 GJ/ ha) than that of FP-PTR (17.8 GJ/ha) while generating higher output energy (279.2 GJ/ha) as compared to that of FP-PTR (216.7 GJ/ha). Net energy gains (265.5 GJ/ha) and energy use efficiency (20.5) were significantly higher in DSR, showcasing its economic and environmental advantages. However, energy

productivity (grain yield per input energy) showed marginal differences with DSR (18.3 kg/MJ), being slightly lower than that of FP-PTR (18.7 kg/MJ). Overall, DSR demonstrated superior performance in terms of productivity, profitability, GHG mitigation, and energy efficiencies, making it a sustainable proposition over conventional rice production system. Further research is needed to optimize zone-specific DSR production practices with moderate yield and economic gains, especially in Lower Brahmaputra

Valley Zone (LBVZ) and Hill Zone (HZ) to catalyze widespread adoption across the state of Assam.

Highlights

• Direct-seeded rice (DSR) under wet (puddled) condition outperformed the conventional farmers’ practice (FP) of growing puddled transplanted rice (PTR) in terms of productivity and profitability across different agroecological zones of Assam.
• Compared with FP-PTR, DSR could reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, viz., carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide by 53.4, 7.7 and 9.6%, respectively.