Impact of Inorganic, Organic and Biological Sources of Nutrients on Growth and Yield of Rice in an Inceptisol Soil of Tamil Nadu (Navarai Season)

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out during the Navarai season (2022) using rice variety ADT - 37 to assess the impact of inorganic, organic, and biological sources of nutrients on the growth and yield of rice in an Inceptisol soil of Tamil Nadu.  The experimental soil was clay loam in texture and had a pH-8.10, EC-0.7 dSm-1, and available NPK of 186.20, 23.30, and 192.25 kg ha-1, respectively. The experiment comprised of nine treatments viz., T1 – Control, T2 - 100% RDF, T3 - 125% RDF , T4 - 100% RDF + Press mud @ 10 t ha-1 + 2% Zinc Solubilizing Bacteria, T5 – 100% RDF + Vermicompost @ 6 t ha-1 + 2% Zinc Solubilizing Bacteria, T6 – 100% RDF + Coirpith Compost @ 6 t ha-1 + 2% Zinc Solubilizing Bacteria, T7 – 125% RDF + Press mud @ 10 t ha-1 + 2% Zinc Solubilizing Bacteria, T8 – 125% RDF + Vermicompost @ 6 t ha-1 + 2% Zinc Solubilizing Bacteria, T9 – 125% RDF + Coirpith Compost @ 6 t ha-1 + 2% Zinc Solubilizing Bacteria. The results of the experiment revealed that application of 125% RDF + Vermicompost @ 6 t ha-1 + 2% Zinc Solubilizing Bacteria (T8) recorded higher values in growth and yield parameters viz., plant height (106.8 cm), Number of productive tillers hill-1 (14.5), Leaf area index (8.02), chlorophyll content (1.285 mg g-1) Number of panicles m-2 (585), Number of grains panicle-1 (227) Dry matter production (5720 kg ha-1), Grain yield (6293 kg ha-1) and Straw yield (8943 kg ha-1).