Abstract
Bed planting with urea super granule (USG) application of rice production systems is very new and research on it is still at an introductory phase. Impact of granular urea application on growth and yield of transplanted aman rice as well as evaluation of water and fertilizer use efficiency of rice-fallow-rice cropping system was investigated under raised bed cultivation method. Result showed that the USG in bed planting method increased grain yield of transplanted aman rice up to 12.32% over prilled urea (PU) broadcasting in conventional method. The USG application in bed planting method increased the number of panicle m-2, number of grains panicle-1 and 1000-grains weight of rice than the PU in conventional method. Sterility percentage and weed infestation were lower at USG application in bed planting method than the PU in conventional method. Forty percent irrigation water and time for application could be saved through the USG in bed planting than the PU broadcasting in conventional method. Water use efficiency for grain and biomass production was higher by the USG application in bed planting than the PU broadcasting in conventional method. Likewise, agronomic efficiency of the USG in bed planting was higher than the PU broadcasting in conventional method. This study concluded that the USG in bed planting method is a new approach to get better fertilizer and water use efficiency as well as higher yield compared to the existing agronomic practice in the world.
Highlights
Paddy rice crop requires massive amounts of mineral nutrients especially nitrogen (N) for its growth, development and yield (Goswami and Banerjee, 1978; Sahrawat, 2000)
The yield increased by 12.32% when urea super granule (USG) was used in bed planting over prilled urea (PU) broadcasting in conventional method
The results were significantly different when compared to conventional method
Summary
Paddy rice crop requires massive amounts of mineral nutrients especially nitrogen (N) for its growth, development and yield (Goswami and Banerjee, 1978; Sahrawat, 2000). The low utilization efficiency is attributed to losses like volatilization, denitrification, leaching and surface run-off (Ponnamperuma, 1972; De Datta, 1981). These losses can be reduced by management practices like use of modified forms of urea. The USG can be produced locally in the factory by using roll press machine. It is provided in deep point placement and has some advantages. These include (i) reduced N loss by runoff, volatilization and denitrification, (ii) delayed N uptake and (iii) reduced ammonium fixation (Westsellar, 1985)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
