RICE PRODUCTIVITY DEPENDS ON FERTILIZER

Rice productivity in the tropics largely depends on fertilizers as soils are commonly low in nitrogen and phosphorus. Some farmers in this region cultivate rice using the hand-broadcast method, which has resulted in a low yield. Therefore, this on-farm experiment was conducted to compare the performance and yield of broadcasted and transplanted rice production systems under different fertilizer combinations. The experimental was set up in a split plot design with six combination treatments and seven replications. The main plots were planting methods comprised of transplanting and broadcasting. The subplots were a combination of NPK fertilizer, urea, and biofertilizer (BF) with and without compost, while the control treatment was NPK fertilizer and urea. The BF contained nitrogen fixer bacteria and phosphate solubilizer microbes. The results showed that fertilizer combination increased shoot height, root length, shoot and root dry weight (RDW), root-to-shoot ratio (R/S), tiller number, 1,000-grain weight, and yield but did not affect clump number. In addition, the planting method affected the parameters except for R/S and 1,000-grain weight. The yield of transplanted rice grown with NPK fertilizer and urea was 17.5% higher than that of the broadcasting method. Incorporation of chemical fertilizer combined with compost and BF resulted in a comparable yield; transplanted rice yield was only 2.18% more than broadcasted. This showed that diverse fertilizer application is needed to minimize the yield gap between broadcasted and transplanted rice.

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