Abstract

Field experiments were conducted for two years (1998-2000) to study the effect of delayed basal dressing and split application of N in wet seeded rice (IR 20). The time of basal N application comprised of four treatments: basal N at the time. of sowing, 7,14, and 21 DAS. The method of N scheduling comprised of two splits (basal and panicle initiation), three splits (50% basal, 25% maximum tillering and 25% panicle initiation), four splits (16.5% basal, 33.5% maximum tillering, 33.5% panicle initiation and 16.5% heading), and five equal splits (basal, early tillering, maximum tillering, panicle initiation and heading stages). The results of the study indicated that delayed basal dressing of N at 21 DAS and fractional application of N in five equal splits promoted LAI, LAD, CGR and RGR enabling higher grain and straw yield.

Keywords: Wet seeded rice, Basal N, Split application of N