Flooded Rice Research Articles

Characterization of carbon dioxide fluxes in tropical lowland flooded rice ecology

Characterization of carbon dioxide fluxes in tropical lowland flooded rice ecology

APPLICATION OF THE KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST TO COMPARE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS OVER TIME

The national inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are periodically prepared by countries that signed the Climate Change Convention, compute emissions from anthropogenic sources among them agricultural activities. The protocols established within the scope of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) make it possible to estimate these emissions. These protocols use standard emission factors that vary according to the characteristics of the monitored activities and only scientific research, published in journals of recognized quality, can establish other local factors. Brazilian researchers carry out experiments to measure GHG emissions from agricultural activities, aiming to calculate specific parameters for the national climatic and management conditions. These field experiments are complex, costly, with a limited number of repetitions and, eventually, high natural variability. Often, these limitations result in the inability of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to identify differences between treatments. The objective of this work is to present the non-parametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test as an alternative to compare the effect of flooded irrigation management on methane (CH4) emission throughout the rice crop cycle. We present a case study in which ANOVA produced non-significant results for the adjustment of the model while the KS identified the emission curves as significantly different. The KS test could be adapted, via the SAS NPAR1WAY routine, to compare events with responses over time, such as methane emissions in flooded rice, resulting in test values and graphs that are easy to understand and interpret.

Integrated nutrient management - promising way to reduce carbon dioxide and methane emission in flooded rice ecosystem: A review

Climate change is an inevitable ruling issue caused by the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG’s) in the atmosphere worldwide. It will have a considerable impact on agriculture and its related fields like live stocks and fisheries. In India, the main sectors contributing to these emissions are industry, agriculture and waste, with a total emission of 334 MT CO2 eq. Besides, the major sources in agriculture are enteric fermentation (63.4%), rice cultivation (20.9%), agricultural soils (13.0%), manure management (2.4%) and on-field burning is the crop residue (2.0%). Thus, the crop productivity sector (rice cultivation, soil and field burning of crop residues) contributes 35.9% to the total emission from agriculture. Therefore, reducing GHG emissions and enhancing the C sequestration in soil and biomass has become challenging. However, the total GHG’s emission from all sectors of the country has decreased from 33% in 1970 to 18% in 2010. Cutting off GHGs emission from agriculture can be achieved by sequestering C and reducing methane emissions(CH4) and carbon dioxide(CO2) through various soil and crop management strategies. Integrated nutrient management (INM) practice ensures the Soil –plant –atmospheric continuum (SPAC) in a promising way, reducing the GHGs emission by sequestering more carbon to soil than emissions. A studious prominent INM solution can be identified to develop a mitigation strategy that helps in climate change adaptation and sustains soil health through soil carbon sequestration.

Scheduling rice irrigation using soil moisture thresholds for furrow irrigation and intermittent flooding

AbstractAlternative methods of rice (Oryza sativa L.) irrigation are gaining increasing popularity across the U.S. Mid‐South, but an allowable soil moisture deficit stress has not been defined. This study was conducted in 2018 and 2019 to determine the soil moisture threshold for furrow‐irrigated rice (FIR) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) rice production systems to minimize irrigation water use while maximizing grain and milling yield. Soil moisture thresholds of −15, −30, and −45 kPa, as determined by Watermark sensors at a 10‐cm depth in the top third of the field, were compared with conventional flood rice (CFR) on a Calloway silt loam and a Sharkey clay in eastern Arkansas. Soil moisture threshold had no effect on grain or milling yield across irrigation thresholds; however, the bottom third of FIR, where a flood was held, consistently produced higher grain yield (10,652–10,965 kg ha−1) than the top third (9,442–9,722 kg ha−1). Significant differences in irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) were achieved under AWD and FIR. The IWUE did not differ across AWD irrigation thresholds but was 58.1–103.8% greater than that of CFR. The −15 and −30 kPa FIR thresholds did not improve IWUE, but using a −45 kPa irrigation threshold resulted in a 42.7% greater IWUE than CFR and 66.0% greater than the −15 kPa threshold. Results suggest that using a −45 kPa irrigation threshold at the 10‐cm depth can potentially maintain grain and milling yield while increasing IWUE under AWD and FIR.

The impacts analysis of the technological shift in rice production to directly-seeded flooded rice on output supply and input demand in Lombok West Nusa Tenggara

The serious harvesting failure that occurred in the agricultural year 1979/1980 affected as many as 11.250 hectares. Since 1980/1981, this phenomenon inspired a technological shift in rice production to Directly-seeded flooded rice on rainfed land. Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara province achieved self-sufficiency of rice in 1984, a year before national self-sufficiency in 1985. This research aims to analyze the impact of directly-seeded flooded rice as a climate change adaptation strategy on output supply and input demand. Time series data from 2000 to 2015 was analyzed by employing Translog Profit Function and Seemingly Unrelated Regression. The results showed that Directly-seeded flooded rice as a climate change adaptation strategy has a positive impact on output supply and input demand. It indicated (1) elastic output supply subject to self-price change of rice and labor, yet inelastic to the price of seed, Urea fertilizer, TSP, and NPK fertilizer. (2) All demand inputs were inelastic subject to self-price except casual labor and herbicide, and elastic subject to output price. Herbicide and fertilizers are complementary inputs to the directly-seeded flooded rice, while herbicide and casual labor are substitution inputs. The output and inputs price changes faced by farmers have both positive as well as negative impacts on output supply and input demand. It means that inputs such as seed, fertilizers, pesticides, and energy such as petrol for hand tractors are the main physical inputs to Directly-seeded flooded rice. Those inputs were very strategic economic goods, meanings that when the price changes occurred, it disturbed supply directly and performance of rice farming, either the production side, profits, or price risk. It also has food security impacts in Lombok.

Impacts of alternate wetting and drying and delayed flood rice irrigation on growing season evapotranspiration

As rice production is water intensive, establishing an accurate field–scale water budget is paramount for sustainable use of local water resources. This study’s goal was to quantify and characterize half-hourly and seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) in two commercial, zero–grade rice fields in the U.S. Mid–South over three growing seasons. During each growing season, irrigation regimes for the studied fields differed between alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and delayed flooding (DF). The 2015 growing season enabled a direct comparison of the effects of AWD and DF on ET, while during the 2016 and 2017 seasons both fields were simultaneously under AWD and DF, respectively. The DF method is the region’s most common irrigation practice, and it prescribes a continuous flood to be maintained for the majority of the growing season after the plants have reached the 5-leaf growth stage (40–50 days after planting). In contrast, after holding this initial flooding for 3 weeks, AWD allows for field drying to promote the capture of seasonal rains to reduce irrigation water withdrawal and associated water pumping costs. In this study, ET was estimated using gap–filled eddy covariance observations and two variations of the Penman–Monteith equation. These methods determined growing season ET values between 560 mm and 636 mm. This study found that there were no significant differences in cumulative ET or yield when comparing AWD to DF practices. Furthermore, AWD elicited no change in ET during periods of drying when compared to DF. By this metric, AWD did not induce drought stress within the plants. We conclude that the main benefit of the AWD practice is to take advantage of seasonal rainfall to offset pumping costs and pressure on irrigation water requirements while maintaining yields comparable to conventional irrigation practices.

Supporting operational site‐specific fertilization in rice cropping systems with infield smartphone measurements and Sentinel-2 observations

Due to the low efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers in flooded rice paddies, there is a rising demand for tools able to detect crop nitrogen status in space and time to allow farmers to use the technical novelties of precision agriculture to improve fertilizer management in extensive fields. This work sets up an operational approach to increase nitrogen use efficiency of top-dressing fertilization by supporting variable rate fertilization in rice cropping systems. The procedure exploits (i) crop modelling to identify best periods for fertilization (When), (ii) Sentinel-2 imagery to draw management zones (MZ) and lead field scouting (Where), and (iii) smartphone app to measure nitrogen nutritional index (NNI) (How much). Automatically generated MZ from Sentinel-2 data were able to identify within field patches with different nutritional status and NNI data well described the crop temporal dynamic in relation to crop development and nutritional needs. The workflow was implemented to provide farmers with timely information on plant nutritional status during the 2018 growing season to define site-specific fertilization strategies implemented with variable rate technology (VRT). Tests conducted on 6 fields over 30 ha in 3 farms showed the feasibility of the proposed workflow in real farming conditions allowing a reduction of applied fertilizer up to 25% in the areas with sufficient nutritional status. Demonstration revealed that VRT based on geospatial information from integrated in-field and satellite data can provide agronomic and environmental benefits compared with standard fertilization resulting in promising outcomes both in terms of yield (increase in the range 0.2–0.5 t ha−1) and nitrogen use efficiency (increase up to 7.8%).

Soil Health Response of Histosols to Flooded versus Dry-Fallow Conditions during Summer

Evaluating changes in soil properties associated with flooded fields during the summer months in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) provides us an opportunity to assess the effect of soil management associated with flooded versus dry-fallow field conditions on Histosols. This information will be beneficial to current and potential growers farming flooded rice in south Florida, as well as Extension agents who work on rice and soil conservation agencies such as the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This new 6-page publication was written by Jehangir H. Bhadha, Jay Capasso, Abul Rabbany, Nan Xu, and Matthew VanWeelden, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Soil and Water Sciences.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss697

Assessment of the Contribution of Flooded Rice Cultivation Systems to Methane Emissions in the Lower Ouémé Valley, in Benin Republic

Flooded rice cultivation fields appear to be the major source of methane emission. In Benin Republic, flooded rice is cultivated in the Niger River and Ouémé River Basins. The present study aims to assess the contribution of flooded rice cultivation systems to methane emissions in the lower Ouémé Valley. Methane emission calculation was based on Activity Data which is the flooded rice harvested surface area from 2008 to 2017. The Tier 2 methodology of the IPCC 2006 Guidelines’ and the complements of the “Refinement 2019” have been used to elaborate the specific emission factors for the lower valley of Ouémé and to estimate the emission of methane in this zone. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with producers in order to elaborate on their perceptions of gas emissions in the flooded rice fields. The EX-ACT tool was used to estimate the carbon footprint of the intensive rice cultivation system “SRI” and the conventional rice cultivation system “SRC”. It is shown that producers have a strong perception of gas emissions in rice fields but are totally unaware of the nature of the gas. Methane emitted in the lower valley of the Ouémé is around 528 tons/year between 2008 and 2017 while the carbon footprint resulting from the results of EX-ACT for the adoption of the SRI rises to the level of sequestration of approximately 0.4 tCH4/ha/year. The intensive rice cultivation system has been identified as the production system that minimizes methane emissions and maximizes rice production.

Flooded Rice Paddy Detection Using Sentinel-1 and PlanetScope Data: A Case Study of the 2018 Spring Flood in West Java, Indonesia

This study aims to detect flooded rice paddies in Indonesia using remotely sensed data from a relatively extensive flood that occurred in the Tegalluar area of Bojongsoang in the spring of 2018, which was observed by the Sentinel-1 and PlanetScope satellites. We propose an automatic thresholding method for the detection of flooded areas in rice paddy fields using Sentinel-1 C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data acquisitions from before and during flooding. The flood-detection accuracy was verified using visible and near-infrared images acquired by the PlanetScope satellites. The proposed method showed that the VV (transmit V and receive V polarizations) data outperformed the VH (transmit V and receive H polarizations) data in terms of correlation ratio and discriminant accuracy. The overall classification accuracy of the nonflooded and flooded areas reached 84.7% with the VV data and 80.6% with the VH data, including the error that resulted from the time difference in the data acquired by Sentinel-1 and PlanetScope. Utilizing speckle-reducing filters with SAR data was found to improve the overall classification accuracy by 5%.

Searching for “Win-Win” solutions for food-water-GHG emissions tradeoffs across irrigation regimes of paddy rice in China

Paddy rice cultivation is an important source of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in China. The traditional flooded paddy rice fields not only use large amounts of irrigation water, but also produce significant methane (CH4) emissions. To balance food security with environmental impacts of rice production, many water-saving irrigations technologies have been tested in the field to increase the drainage period during the rice growth cycle. However, whether these management solutions can be implemented at the regional scale needs to be further explored. Because it is too time-consuming and resource-intensive for field experiments to be carried out across large areas, we opt to assess the regional impacts of alternative irrigation schemes via computer modeling, by coupling the well-known DSSAT and DNDC models, which have been extensively validated in China. Irrigation methods tested include the traditional Continuous Flooding (CF), Midseason Drainage (MD) and Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD). Simulation results show that compared with CF, water-saving irrigation methods can significantly reduce the CH4 emission from paddy rice field, with slight or no loss in expected rice yields. AWD had the greatest effect in reducing irrigation water amounts and CH4 emission. Compared with CF, CH4 emission under the AWD were 60% - 71% lower in Northeast China sites and 34% - 65% lower in South China sites. At the same time, compared to CF, irrigation water use in AWD was reduced by 23% - 34% in northeast China sites and by 18% - 50% in south China sites. Our results suggest that policies that support expansion of AWD in paddy rice cultivation across China can lead to a “win-win” for the food-water-GHG emissions tradeoffs, and offer a viable solution for policy makers and stakeholders in China.

Using water with different levels of salinity by paddy fields: a Brazilian case study

ABSTRACT On the coastal plain of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, the soil salinity is strictly related to the quality of irrigation water sources connected to the Atlantic Ocean, especially the Patos Lagune. The possibility of using this water source for irrigation of rice fields depends on the salinity level of the water and soil, which can be estimated knowing the sodium (Na+) content of both. This study aimed to establish a relationship between the electrical conductivity (EC) and Na+ content of the water of the Patos Lagune and to determine the possibility of water use for flooded rice, with increasing levels of EC, on the Brazilian coastal plain. Water samples were collected at different points in the Patos Lagune to determine the levels of Na+ and EC. The equation determined was as follows: Na (mg L−1) = 179.61 * EC – 183.25. The possibility of using irrigation water was different between the sites. Most soils can receive the total volume of water demanded by flooded rice since the water EC does not exceed 1.0 dS m−1. With an EC of 1.5 dS m−1, an alternative irrigation water source should be obtained.

Modeling the Emergence of Echinochloa sp. in Flooded Rice Systems

Barnyard grass (Echinochloa sp.) is one of the main rice weeds. Knowledge of its emergence can support management measures. The present study models barnyard grass emergence at different flooded rice sowing periods. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the hydrothermal time model in estimating barnyard grass emergence is analyzed. Field emergence was monitored three times a week during two sowing times (October and November) and two growing seasons (2017/18 and 2018/19), in rice sown and unsown areas. Data were converted to cumulative emergence based on total seedlings. Soil temperature and moisture data were used to determine hydrothermal time. The sowing in October led to a continuous emergence of barnyard grass, while the sowing in late November led to different emergence rates. The highest emergence rates of barnyard grass occur in the first sowing time. The hydrothermal time model is adequate to estimate barnyard grass emergence in both sowing times.

Organic Matter Clogging Results in Undeveloped Hardpan and Soil Mineral Leakage in the Rice Terraces in the Philippine Cordilleras

Rice terraces in Cordillera, Philippines, a world cultural heritage site, are threatened by the risk of collapse. It is crucial to manage these rice terraces for their conservation, while simultaneously practicing traditional farming. We examined the soil environment and investigated its effects on rice terrace conservation, by focusing on the hardpan condition; infiltration process, which is related to the collapse of rice terraces; and soil nutrition conditions in these sites. Field survey and soil analysis revealed that in areas where the hardpan was not sufficiently developed and water infiltration was effectively suppressed, organic matter content was significantly high, suggesting organic matter clogging. In these rice terraces, the amounts of P, K, Ca, and Mn were significantly low, showing the mineral leaching under reductive soil conditions. Therefore, hardpan formation, rather than organic matter clogging, is essential for the suppression of infiltration and prevention of potential terrace collapse. Because hardpan formation or organic matter clogging cannot be identified from the surface of flooded rice paddies, it is difficult to identify the influencing factor. Thus, we suggest that the hard soil layer should be checked before the planting season and drainage is allowed after the cropping season in the rainy season.

Benthic microalgae are more 13C-depleted than phytoplankton in temperate flooded rice fields

We investigated seasonal changes in the δ13C levels of particulate organic matter (POM), which mainly consist of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos from three flooded rice fields treated with different types of fertilizer (chemical NPK, chemical PK, or organic fertilizers) in northeast Japan. Generally, microphytobenthos in lentic freshwater systems show higher levels of δ13C (about− 26‰) than phytoplankton (about− 32‰) due to 13C enrichment under limited resources of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the benthic boundary layer (BBL). However, our results showed that POM was more 13C-enriched than microphytobenthos regardless of the type of fertilizer applied. Overall mean POM and microphytobenthos δ13C levels in the fields ranged from − 27.5 to − 25.2‰ and − 30.3 to − 27.0‰, respectively. In contrast, δ13C levels in soil organic matter were temporally stable, with means ranging from − 27.6 to − 26.3‰. High δ13C levels in POM were due to limited DIC under conditions of high phytoplanktonic productivity and water stagnation in paddy systems, resulting in DI13C intake during photosynthesis. Conversely, microphytobenthos used more 13C-depleted DIC in the BBL, which was microbially regenerated from the SOM pool. Microphytobenthos in the rice fields showed similar seasonal variations in δ13C, decreasing sharply in late June and then increasing again. This was possibly caused by changes in DIC availability or the growth rates of microphytobenthos during that period. The present results provide basal information about producer-specific δ13C variations in two major microalgal producer groups, phytoplankton and microphytobenthos, in temperate rice paddy wetlands.

MACRONUTRIENT RATES AND MULTIFUNCTIONAL MICROORGANISMS IN A TROPICAL FLOODED RICE CROP

ABSTRACT Tropical flooded rice production systems require a high input of fertilizers and chemical defensive. The use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), a sustainable component of this system, can increase nutrient-use efficiency and lead to significant increases in the grain yield of tropical flooded rice crop. This study aimed to determine the effect of the microorganism BRM 32110 (Bacillus thuringiensis) in combination with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) application rates on the physiological and agronomic performance of tropical flooded rice plants. Trials were performed in the 2016/2017 growing season in Formoso do Araguaia, a city in Tocantins state, Brazil. Three independent experiments (E1, E2, and E3) were performed in a randomized block design in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme with three replications. E1 comprised four N application rates (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha-1) with and without the addition of BRM 32110, E2 comprised four P2O5 application rates (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg P2O5 ha-1) with or without BRM 32110, and E3 comprised four K2O application rates (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg K2O ha-1) with and without BRM 32110. In fertile soil, there were no interactions between the rhizobacterium BRM 32110 and the N, P or K application rates. BRM 32110 improved nutrient uptake and, on average, increased shoot dry matter by 8%, photosynthesis rate by 14% and grain yield by 11% in the flooded rice plants. Our results suggest that the use of multifunctional microorganisms is a good strategy for improving flooded rice grain yield sustainably.

Modeling organically fertilized flooded rice systems and its long-term effects on grain yield and methane emissions

The increasing trend of adopting organic fertilization in rice production can impact grain yields and soil methane (CH4) emissions. To simulate these impacts in the absence of long-term field data, a process-based biogeochemical model, Denitrification and Decomposition (DNDC version 9.5) was used. The model was calibrated against a single year greenhouse study and validated using a previously published one-year field trial from 1990, both comparing varying fertilization systems in rice production in southeast Texas, USA. In both the greenhouse and the field studies, lower grain yield and greater soil CH4 emissions were observed in organically fertilized systems. Calibrated model simulations of the greenhouse study correlated with the observed daily CH4 emissions (conventional r2 = 0.87; organic r2 = 0.91) and SOC (r2 = 0.83); but, the model overestimated yield of conventional systems (slope = 1.2) and underestimated yield of organic systems (slope = 0.68). For the field study, agreement between simulated and observed yields and CH4 emissions resulted in slopes close to 1. A simple organic system with urea and straw amendment from the field study was an input available in DNDC whereas the slow release, pelletized organic fertilizer used in the greenhouse study, Nature Safe, was not modeled well by DNDC. The validated model was used to simulate 22 years of rice production and predicted that the differences in yield and CH4 emissions between treatments would diminish with time. In the model simulations, the overall soil health was enhanced when managed with organic fertilization compared to conventional inorganic fertilizers. Model simulations could be improved further by including site-specific calibration of soil organic C, and soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Predicting Rice Stem Stink Bug Population Dynamics Based on GAMLSS Models.

The rice stem stink bug, Tibraca limbativentris Stål (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is one of the most harmful insects for Brazilian rice fields. Aiming to define the most appropriate time and place for pest management measures in commercial paddy fields, we adjusted regression models (Poisson, Zero Inflated Poisson, reparametrized Zero Inflated Poisson, Negative Binomial and Zero Inflated Negative Binomial) for modeling the population variation of T. limbativentris along the phenological cycle of the flooded rice cultivation. We hypothesize that the rice stem stink bug population's size is influenced by the rice cycle (time) and geographical positions within the crop. It was possible to predict the occurrence of the rice stem stink bug in the commercial flooded rice crop. The population of the rice stem stink bug increased significantly with the time or phenological evolution of rice. Our results indicated that the start of T. limbativentris monitoring should occur up to 45 d After Plant Emergence (DAE), from the regions along the edges of the rice paddies, which are the points of entry and higher concentration of the insect. In addition, 45 and 60 DAE were considered the crucial times for T. limbativentris control decision making in flooded rice paddies.

Soybean Yield Does Not Rely on Mineral Fertilizer in Rotation with Flooded Rice under a No-Till Integrated Crop-Livestock System

In subtropical lowlands, the introduction of soybean and livestock in rotation are an alternative to rice monoculture. Due to the nutrient cycling process improved by animal grazing in winter fertilized pastures, soybean may not respond to mineral fertilization under a no-till integrated crop–livestock system (ICLS). Thus, the objectives of this study were to evaluate (i) the soybean yield response to different fertilization levels of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) and (ii) the relationship between soybean yield and soil chemical properties sampled in different soil layers, in a no-till ICLS in subtropical lowlands. Two field studies were conducted in a system that included a soybean-flooded rice rotation integrated with cattle grazing during the winter season. During the 2015/2016 cropping season, five levels of P and K fertilization were applied to the soil. During the 2017/2018 cropping season, the relationships between soybean yield and soil chemical properties were evaluated under no fertilization treatment. Soybean yield under an ICLS did not respond to P and K fertilization, even when the soil P level was below the critical threshold. The associations between soybean yield and soil chemical properties were greatest in the 10–20 cm soil layer as compared with the 0–10 cm soil layer, especially for available P, followed by pH and soil organic matter (SOM). The crop rotation and ICLS adoption under no-till reduced the soybean reliance for mineral fertilization prior to cropping. Results of this study inform producers of possible fertilization adjustments, in which supplementing mineral fertilizer for soybean may not be necessary.

Foliar Manganese Supply Enhances Crop Productivity, Net Benefits, and Grain Manganese Accumulation in Direct-Seeded and Puddled Transplanted Rice

Manganese (Mn) deficiency in human nutrition is widespread in the rice–wheat cropping system where cereal grains are the staple food. Agronomic biofortification is an innovative and pragmatic approach to tackle Mn malnutrition. A 2-year field study was conducted to investigate the comparative effect of different Mn application methods: (1) No Mn application, (2) Mn seed coating (2 g kg−1 seed), (3) hydro-priming, (4) Mn seed priming (0.1 M Mn solution), (5) soil application (0.5 kg ha−1), (6) foliar water spray, and (7) foliar Mn spray (0.02 M Mn solution) in improving the productivity, profitability, biofortification and Mn-use efficiencies of rice in puddled transplanted flooded rice (FR) and direct-seeded aerobic rice (AR) production systems. Under AR system, soil physical and biological properties, as well as nutrient dynamics were improved. Averaged across 2 years, improvement in total soil porosity (9%), soil organic carbon (12%), soil microbial biomass carbon (6%), soil microbial biomass nitrogen (3%), total nitrogen (13.6%), available phosphorus (10.98%), and exchangeable potassium (7.1%) were noted in AR system over FR system. Regardless of application methods, Mn nutrition substantially improved the yield and related traits and grain Mn concentration in both production systems. Averaged across 2 years, the increase in grain yield under different Mn application treatments was in the order: foliar application (22%) > seed priming (16%) > soil application (12%) > seed coating (12%). Grain Mn concentration was the highest with foliar application of Mn (27% over control) in both production systems. Moreover, the maximum net benefits and benefit–cost ratio were obtained through Mn-foliar application in both production systems. In conclusion, Mn application by either method improved the productivity, profitability, biofortification and Mn-use efficiencies under FR and AR systems; nevertheless, foliar Mn application performed better for all the studied traits.