Effect of Precision Nutrient Management on Growth Indices of Rice under Different Establishment Methods

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a semi-aquatic annual grass and one of the principal staple cereals consumed by more than half of the world’s population, thereby contributing to global food and nutritional security, including in India. Its cultivation is constrained by stagnating yields, blanket fertiliser application, and environmental concerns, indicating the need for strategic management approaches to improve physiological efficiency and resource use. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to assess the effects of establishment methods and precision nutrient management approaches on the crop growth indices of rice at the Agricultural Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, SKUAST-Kashmir, India, during the Kharif seasons of 2024 and 2025. The experiment comprised two main-plot establishment levels, viz., transplanting and direct-seeded rice, and eight sub-plot nutrient management levels, viz., absolute control, recommended dose of fertilisers, Soil Test Crop Response (STCR) approach (target yield 75 q ha-1), STCR approach (target yield 85 q ha-1), STCR approach (target yield 95 q ha-1), Nutrient-Expert (NE) (target yield 75 q ha-1), NE (target yield 85 q ha-1), and NE (target yield 95 q ha-1). Transplanting proved significantly superior to DSR in terms of the crop growth indices of rice. STCR (TY-95 q ha-1) recorded the highest LAI at all growth stages, attaining peak values at 85 DAS (4.29 and 4.42). During the 65–85 DAS interval, STCR (TY-95 q ha-1) recorded the highest CGR values (28.18 and 28.24 g m-2 day-1). RDF recorded the numerically highest RGR at 45–65 DAS (76.83 and 73.20 mg g-1 day-1) in both years. NE (TY-75 q ha-1) recorded significantly higher NAR (10.50 and 10.37 g m-2 day-1) at 45–65 DAS in the respective years.