Influence of nitrogen levels and plant spacing on growth, productivity and quality of two inbred varieties and a hybrid of aromatic rice

Abstract

A field investigation was conducted at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute's Research Farm during the kharif (wet) seasons of 2002 and 2003 in a split plot design with three replications, consisting of 27 treatments, namely, main plots: three varieties (PRH-10, Pusa Sugandh-3 and Pusa Basmati-1) and three plant spacings (20 × 10, 20 × 15 and 20 × 20 cm²) and sub-plots: three levels of nitrogen (0, 80 and 160 kg N ha⁻¹). The research results indicated that aromatic rice hybrid PRH-10 produced 33 and 6%, respectively, more grain yield than that of Pusa Sugandh-3 and Pusa Basmati-1. The appreciable higher grain yield of PRH-10 over Pusa Sugandh-3 and Pusa Basmati-1 was due to considerable improvement in most of the yield attributing characters. Application of 160 kg N ha⁻¹ recorded 23.7 and 26.1% more grain yield over no nitrogen application whereas it was 6.4 and 6.1% more over 80 kg N ha⁻¹, respectively, during first and second year of the experimentation. Wider plant spacing of 20 × 20 cm² and application of 160 kg N/ha recorded significantly higher hulling, milling and head rice recovery compared to closer spacing and zero nitrogen application.

Keywords:

• aromatic rice
• nitrogen
• spacing
• growth
• yield
• yield attributes
• quality

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Head, Division of Agronomy and Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, for providing the necessary facilities, support and cooperation to conduct the present investigation.