Effect of magnesium fertilization on yield and nutrient status of rice in kole lands

The field experiments were conducted in farmer's field at five locations each of kole lands to study the effect of Magnesium (Mg) on yield and soil and plant nutrient status of rice during 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The treatments comprised of different levels of Mg viz; 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 kg Magnesium sulphate(MgSO4)/ha along with control. Observations on growth characters yield attributes, yield and soil and plant nutrient status were recorded. The results revealed that application of 100 kg MgSO4 / ha recorded the maximum number of panicles/m2 (419.13), number of grains/panicle (109.36), thousand grain weight (28.78 g), grain (9.27 t/ha) and straw yield (9.04 t/ha) of rice. The results of pooled data on plant and soil nutrient status revealed that application of magnesium had a positive effect on nutrient content and availability of nutrients in soil. A significant positive correlation was also noticed between Mg application, yield attributes, yield and nutrient contents. The study concluded that application of 100 kg MgSO4 / ha was found to be optimum for correcting the deficiency in Mg deficient areas of kole lands under below sea level farming.

Nitrogen management can boost rice (Oryza sativa L.) production near aluminium smelter: A field study

Nitrogen (N) management is a key to sustain rice yield under submerged condition. Time and amount of N application boost rice production under adverse environmental situation. To test this hypothesis a field experiment was conducted at different villages in and around Hindustan Aluminium Company Ltd. (HINDALCO), Hirakud, Sambalpur, Odisha in the year 2015 and 2016. The rice ecosystems were selected on the basis of distance from the smelter plant. Different treatments were framed to test the hypothesis as T1-Farmers practice (60:30:30 kg N: P2 O5:K2O ha-1); T2- 75% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) of nitrogen(N) ; T3 -100% RDF of N; T4 -125% RDF of N; T5 -150% RDF of N. It was conducted in a randomized block design with four replications in the farmer's field. The test crop was rice cv.Tejaswinee. Growth parameters like plant height (cm), panicle length (cm) and number of effective tillers per hill were found to be highest in the plots where 125% RDF of N was applied. However the chlorophyll content(mg g-1 fresh)was estimated highest with 150 % RDF of N applied plots. The grain and straw yield (q ha-1) of rice were also observed highest with treatments receiving125% RDF of N.The rice ecosystems which are nearer to aluminium smelter plant were supposed to be affected with less yield as compared to far distance rice ecosystems. The grain quality parameterof rice like protein content (%) was also affected at smelter sites as compared to far distances. However with increasing the N level to 125 % RDF protein content was increased.

Genetic diversity of yield related traits in a large subset of exotic and indigenous rice germplasm collection maintained at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University gene bank

The present investigation was carried out to explore the extent of genetic divergence in 95 rice germplasm accessions for twelve characters during kharif, 2018. In D2 analysis, the 95 genotypes were grouped into fifteen clusters. The clustering pattern indicated that there was no parallelism between genetic diversity and geographical origin as the genotypes from same origin were included in different clusters and vice versa. The highest intra cluster distance was registered in cluster V (215.183) followed by cluster IX (209.831), cluster VIII (204.057) and cluster XIV (202.623).The maximum inter cluster distance was observed between cluster II and cluster III (991.049) followed by cluster II and cluster X (974.960), cluster III and cluster XI (963.826), cluster II and XII (962.013), cluster X and cluster XI (932.469) and cluster XI and cluster XII (919.151). Genetically distant parents from those clusters could be able to produce higher heterosis in progenies on hybridization. Grain yield per plant, 100 grain weight and days to 50% flowering were the major contributors towards the total genetic divergence among the genotypes studied. Thus selection could be made based on grain yield per plant, hundred grain weight and days to 50%flowering for the progenies identified.

Problems and prospects of cultivation of indigenous rice landraces of Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal, India with special reference to Tulaipanji

The district Uttar Dinajpur of West Bengal is bestowed with very fertile soil, which helps to grow paddy and other agricultural crops. Cultivation of indigenous rice has been practiced by farmers since ancient times. Indigenous rice has several socio-economic, ecological and genetical aspects but the major problem lies in their comparatively low output. The diversity of indigenous rice landraces has been drastically reduced due to the introduction of high yielding varieties (HYVs). Through extensive survey it has been found that about 74 indigenous rice land races were available in different blocks of the district, but among them only about 20 varieties are now in farmers' hand while more than 70% of them are not cultivated in practical field. In India, the indigenous aromatic rice landrace Tulaipanji (GI 530) is only grown in Raiganj sub-division of Uttar Dinajpur and small pockets of Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal. Due to its aroma and quality this rice could make the position in global market through proper marketing. A phylogenetic study of the rice landraces has been performed and observed that only three of them i.e., Tulaipanji, Radhunipagal and Gobindavog are closely related to each other, which also has the close lineage with the Asian wild-rice (Oryza rufipogon). Today's society demands the interaction and incorporation of scientific technology for the upliftment of indigenous rice landrace sustainable cultivation. Really it has the immense scope and prospects, which ultimately save the human life from notorious diseases.

Effect of germination on yield, physico-chemical properties, nutritional composition and GABA content in germinated brown rice

Germinated brown rice (GBR) is an emerging health food that has received attention due to its nutritional composition, especially Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA). The objective of this research was to germinate two brown rice varieties MTU 1010 and KNM 118 at various germination hours (0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72 hours) to determine the best yield and correlate with the nutritional composition and GABA content. Brown rice soaked in water for 12 hours at 28 ± 2ºC followed by 24 to 36 hours germination was found to have optimum yield (85%) with good nutritional and GABA content. Protein, fat, crude fiber, carbohydrate content and energy content among all samples were highest at 24 hours and 36 hours of germination. Pearson correlation coefficient performed between yield, germination hours and nutritional parameters of both varieties, indicated a positive correlation between germination hours and GABA content in both varieties.

Productivity and economics of rice cultivars under different irrigation regimes and systems of cultivation

Shortage of water in rice cultivation is major problem in India. To safeguard and sustain food security in India, it is quite important to increase the productivity of rice under limited water resources. To investigate the performance of rice cultivars under the best method of irrigation and system of cultivation in new condition an experiment was conducted to study the "productivity and water use efficiency of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars under different irrigation regimes and systems of cultivation" on clay loam soils of Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana during the kharif seasons of 2017 and 2018. The treatment comprised of two irrigation regimes viz., AWD and saturation as main plot treatments, three establishment methods viz., system of rice intensification, drum seeding and TP as subplot treatments and four cultivars namely DRR Dhan 42, DRR Dhan 43, MTU-1010 and NLR-34449 as sub-sub plot treatments summing up to 24 treatment combinations laid out in split-split plot design with three replications. Among the irrigation regimes, AWD irrigation practice recorded higher grain yield (5755, 5952 and 5854 kg ha-1 in 2017, 2018 and pooled means, respectively) than saturation. Among the different systems of cultivation, the SRI recorded significantly higher grain yield (5953, 6129 and 6041 kg ha-1 during 2017, 2018 and in pooled means, respectively) over the TP method. Among the different rice cultivars, DRR Dhan 43 registered remarkably higher grain yield than other cultivars during 2017 and 2018.

Inter-varietal sterility and fertility restoration in Oryza sativa Linn.

This study explored the underlining reproductive factors that cause sterility in rice, using hybrids obtained from crosses among landrace selections and improved varieties. The study was carried out between 2016 and 2018. Nine landrace cultivars and two improved varieties were involved in the hybridization experiment. Among the 17 putative hybrids that were obtained, only 5 were confirmed as true hybrids. Meiotic chromosome studies and pollen studies in the F1, and Mendelian segregation studies for fertility in the F2 were carried out. Some F2 lines were monitored to F3 to ascertain the level of fixation of gene combinations for fertility. The results obtained from the chromosomal studies showed that phenomena such as laggards, precocious movements, formation of multivalents, and unequal segregation to the poles are associated with pollen sterility in all - 5 hybrids, at the F1 and F2 generations. The indehiscence of anthers contributed to infertility due to pollen shortage than the fertility of the pollens themselves. Even though in males, there is a preponderance of male sterility, female sterility is also a phenomenon that is possibly contributing to inter-varietal sterility. The segregational pattern of 13:3 was observed for fertility in the F2 which suggests the inhibition of fertility by a gene in the dominant state. There was the restoration of fertility in many of the lines advanced to the F3 to up to 93 % fertility. It was, therefore, concluded from the study that landraces of rice still hold the key for the rice crop improvement and should therefore be conserved.

Rice crop response to site variability in a multi-locational trial: A call for site specific management

Yield is a net expression of genotype (G) x environment (E) interactions including management. However, the segregation of 'E' into respective causes is seldom done while 'G' is a constant. Soil is a component of 'E' with imminent variability in attributes among multiple locations. Data on yield response of varieties to a set of treatments in different soils from multi-locational yield maximisation trial under All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project were regularly gathered. A dataset pertaining to a trial conducted in Karaikal district of Puducherry Union Territory was analysed to ascertain the site-specific crop responses with inherent variability in soils. Rice varieties, ADT 46, BPT 5204 and CR 1009 were tested for responses at 17 sites with farmer fertiliser practices (FFP), regional recommended fertiliser dose (RDF) and software, 'Nutrient Expert®' (2016) (NE) derived fertiliser quantities. Analysis of variance showed that test sites explained 59.3% variability in yield. A multivariate technique, Factor Analysis extracted two factors, which are linear combinations of soil attributes those explained 76% of variance in soils. Factor scores classified soils into four groups, owing to variability in soil properties. Soil texture influenced yield significantly (across varieties and treatments) (R2 = 11.1%). Sites varied in excess duration in nursery ranging from 2 - 26 days. However, this excess duration reduced number of panicles m-2 only in CR 1009 (r = -0.328**). General linear model with sites and treatments as fixed factors, their interactions and panicles m-2 as covariate predicted better (R2 = 90.3%) with their significant contribution to the model. The order of R2 (%) was Sites (59.3) > Varieties (27.4) > Treatments (13.6%) in explaining variability in yield highlighting site-specific responses. Mean differences between ADT 46 and BPT 5204; BPT 5204 and CR 1009 were significant. Yield significantly changed across sites and treatments when fertiliser management shifted from non-specific (FFP) to site-specific NE based calculations through RDF (region specific). Results of this trial placed emphasis on soil test-based crop management to realise the uniform best, which clearly is site specific crop management.

Deciphering the effect of different nitrogen doses on grain protein content, quality attributes and yield related traits of rice

Understanding the gravity of nutritional significance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) protein, an experiment conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) involving effect of nitrogen (N) rates i.e.,140 kg N/ha, 120 kg N/ha, 100 kg N/ha and 80 kg N/ha on grain protein content, yield parameters and cooking characteristics of polished rice from eight rice genotypes was conducted. N application significantly affected the grain protein content, grain yield, head rice recovery, plant height and effective tillers. In high protein cultivars substantially low to intermediate amylose content and more cooking time was recorded while in low protein counterpart amylose content was comparatively high with low cooking time. Maximum cooking time in polished rice was of 25 min at 180 kg N/ha dose and highest amylose content of about 27% at 80 kg N/ha. Gumminess and hardness of cooked rice and cooking time significantly elevated with increase in N dose. The substantial differences in grain protein content in brown, polished and cooked rice was observed. Cooking revealed the significant increase in protein content ranged from 50%-70% in low protein to high protein genotypes. R-RGM-ATN-47 with highest grain yield of 62.13 q/ha, grain protein content of 10.00 % in polished rice and intermediate amylose appears to be the most promising candidate.