Assessing Productivity and Profitability of Hybrid Rice With Site Specific Nutrient Management in Mid Western Terai, Nepal

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a dominant staple food crop of Nepal which production and productivity is significantly declining compared to several years due to inappropriate nutrient management practices. A field experiment was conducted at Lamahi, Dang to evaluate the performance of hybrid rice(US-305) under rain fed condition with five precision nutrient management practices [Viz: Nutrient Expert® -Rice (NE) recommendation; Leaf Color Chart (LCC) N and Nutrient Expert (P and K); Nutrient Expert (N) and Farmers Fertilizer Practices (P and K); Farmers Fertilizer Practices (FFP) and Government Recommendation (GR)] replicated four times in RCBD design during June to October, 2018. The experimental finding showed that SSNM based Nutrient Expert® -Rice (NE) recommendation gave higher grain yield (6.36 ton ha^-1) and straw yield (12.62 ton ha^-1) which leads to highest gross return (NRs 242,498) and B: C ratio(3.08). Between the treatments Nutrient Expert® -Rice (NE) recommendation was excellent to growth parameters like plant height, crop growth rate, relative growth rate and leaf area index over FFP. Further, Nutrient Expert® -Rice (NE) recommendation gave significantly higher effective tiller m^-2(354.50), panicle length (26.31), panicle weight (81.50), filled grain (390) and fertility (87.56%) over FFP. Nutrient Expert® -Rice (NE) recommendation has increased the grain yield by 23.97% with yield difference of 1.23 ton ha^-1 and straw yield by 39.44 % with yield difference of 3.57 ton ha^-1 in comparison with FFP. Hence the experiment concluded that site specific nutrient management recommendation that accounts Nutrient Expert® -Rice and leaf color chart could be the practical decision tool for making authentic fertilizer recommendation.