Present position of fertilizer experiments in rice in India

Abstract

A large number of fertilizer experiments have been conducted in the country with an object to get a rationalised and economic programme of fertilizer for different areas. Results have shown that rice soils in India need both nitrogen and phosphate for increasing production. Response to potash application has however not been adequate enough. Nitrogenous fertilizers have been found most effective in increasing yield in almost all trials, but highly significant yield increases to phosphate application have been obtained only in a few localised areas in the country. In recent all-India trials conducted on cultivators’ fields, however, phosphate need is felt at many places. Green manuring, another rich source of nitrogen, has proved equally effective and sometimes better than inorganic fertilizers. Different nitrogenous fertilizers like ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride and urea have also been tested. At experimental stations, ammonium sulphate has generally proved more effective than urea and ammonium nitrate but in all-India T.C.M. trials on cultivators’ fields, results have been rather variable and not much difference between these sources of nitrogen carriers has been observed. Various phosphatic fertilizers tried are also not found different in their behaviour.