Response of Some Improved Upland Rice Varieties to Different Sources and Rates of Nitrogen Fertilizer in A Humid Rain Forest Region

Demben Moses Esang,Angus Onwudiwe Ikeh

doi:10.54536/ajaset.v5i2.75

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nitrogen (N) is a major lacking nutrient element for the growth and yield of cereal crops Calabar, it is necessary to determine the response different sources and rates of N in four varieties of upland rice. Treatments comprised factorial combinations of the four rice varieties (NERICA 1, NERICA 2, FARO 45, FARO 48), three straight inorganic N sources (urea, Calcium ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate) and four levels of N (0, 30, 60, 90 kg N ha-1) laid in randomized complete block design. The N was split applied twice; one-third at the beginning of tillering and the remainder at panicle initiation. The results showed that the source of fertilizer N did not affect significantly the growth and yield of the rice crop (p=0.05). Considering that soils in Calabar are acid sands it will not be advisable to consistently apply such acidifying fertilizers as ammonium sulphate or urea except with soil liming which will undoubtedly increase the cost of production and probably make it unprofitable to cultivate rice in the area. The fertilized crop grew taller and produced more biomass compared with the control. It also produced significantly more tillers hill-1, panicles m-2, grains panicle-1, weight of 1,000 grains and grain yield. However, whereas NERICA 1, NERICA 2 and FARO 45 were more responsive to lower N levels, the grain yield of FARO 48 was significantly higher when the crop received 90 kg N ha-1 compared with other varieties, probably because of its longer growth duration in the field. The responsiveness of these varieties to low N application was the result of their higher grain yield resulting from enhanced N use efficiency. Genotypes that were most responsive to low N input levels were early maturing with high N-use efficiencies. On the basis of grain yield, it is recommended that for high yield in the humid region of Cross River State, N should be applied at the rate of 60 kg ha-1 for early- and 90 kg ha-1 or above for the medium-maturing upland rice varieties. Keywords: Rice, Varieties, Growth and Yield

Highlights

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the world’s most important cereal food crops
Study conducted in Onne in Rivers State, Nigeria, revealed that leaching losses on maize and upland rice varied from 28 percent to 53 percent depending upon N application method ( Arora and Juo, 1993)
FARO 45 and FARO 48 responded generally to higher N levels, and in the case of FARO 48 might have responded to even higher rates than those tested in this study

Summary

Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the world’s most important cereal food crops. It is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, and about 1 billion households in Asia and Africa (Esang, 2015) and the Americas depend on rice cultivation for employment and their main esource of livelihood (Shimamura, 2005). Rice is rapidly the preferred staple food in urban areas where annual consumption epartrroolexceeds 47 Kg per capita (Esang, 2015) with a total annual rice production of about 2 million tonnes It is the fourth largest cereal crop grown in the country behind sorghum, millet and maize (WARDA 2006). Nigeria imports about 2.5 – 3 million metric tonnes of rice as, total national consumption exceeds 5 million tonnes per year, or more than 30kg per capita per annum. Considering that total sales of rice exceeds $5 billion per year, $3 billion of which are from imports, there is a significant rice market in Nigeria (USAID, 2009)

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Conclusion