Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at the wetland of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during Navarai (Dec - Jan) season 2010–11 to investigate the effect of foliar nutrition on growth, yield attributes and yield of rice. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with twelve treatments replicated thrice. The results revealed that combined application of organic and inorganic sources with foliar spray had enhanced effect on growth and yield of rice crop over application of chemical fertilizers or organic sources alone. Among the nutrient management treatments, the plant height, dry matter production, number of tillers, yield attributes and yield of grain (5631 kg ha-1 ) and straw (7647 kg ha -1 ) were the highest with recommended integrated nutrient management (INM) practice +2% urea phosphate spray at panicle initiation and 10 days later. However the yield was comparable with recommended INM practice + 2% DAP spray at panicle initiation and 10 days later and recommended INM practice + 1% urea phosphate spray at panicle initiation and 10 days later.

Keywords: Foliar spray, rice, urea phosphate, vermicompost, yield.