Abstract

                                A field experiment involving eight treatments with different spacing (25 cmrow spacing with 25 cm, 20 cm, and 15 cm intra-row spacing; and 20 cmrow spacing with 20 cm, 15 cm, and 10 cm intra-row spacing) and fertilizerlevels (100% and 125% Recommended Dose Fertilizer - RDF) was conductedin Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India during late Samba(September-January) season, 2018-19. The trial aimed to study the effectof high-density planting on dry-matter partitioning and nutrient uptake ofrice. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design withthree replications. Results showed that higher dry-matter partitioning ofleaf, culm, root and panicle were obtained under closer plant spacing of20cm x 10 cm over other treatments while lower dry-matter accumulationwas recorded at wider crop geometry of 25cm x 25 cm. The nutrient uptakerecorded at 25cm x 15 cm with 125% RDF was superior over other treatmentsfollowed by 20cm x 10 cm with 100% RDF while the SRI method of planting(25cm x 25 cm) recorded lower nutrient uptake. The experimental resultsinferred that nutrient uptake is more similar to dry-matter. The conventionalmethod of cultivation with 20cm x 10 cm, produced more dry-matter in allplant parts of rice and foraged higher nutrients compared to all other widerspacing treatments with SRI methodology.

Key words : Modified SRI, high-density planting, dry-matter partitioning, nutrient uptake