Differential response of rice to organics and mineral nitrogen on growth parameters, yield attributes and yield in an ustifluvents soil

Introduction: Field experiments were conducted for two years in sandy clay loam soil to study the effect of organic sources and mineral nitrogen on growth parameters, yield attributes and yield of rice. The treatments consisted of addition of different organics viz., composted coir pith (CCP), green manures (GM), sugarcane trash compost (STC), vermicompost (VC), poultry manure (PM) and FYM applied at 100% RDN and combination of above organics @50% N and urea@50%N besides 100% RDN as urea and control. The results revealed that integrated use of organics and urea recorded higher growth parameters like plant height, No. of tillers/hill, chlorophyll content, LAI, CGR, RGR, and NAR compared to their individual additions and control. Among the organics alone, the growth and yield parameters were more under vermicompost amended soil compared to other organics. Similar observations were observed in yield attributes like No. of panicles/m 2, No. of grains/panicle, panicle length and 1000 grain weight. However the highest growth parameters, grain yield (5067, 5050 kg ha-1) and straw yield (6490, 6398 kg ha-1) was noticed with vermicompost (50% N) + urea (50% N) which was on par with poultry manure (50%N) + urea (50%N) but superior to rest of the treatments. Rice yield was more with 100% Urea N compared to 100% RDN as organics alone. The best treatment caused 34.2% increase in grain yield over control, 1.36% over100% urea N.