Yield and Quality of Rice as Affected by Molybdenum Applied With Chemical Fertilizers and Organic Matter

J Agric Rural Dev 6(1&2), 19-23, June 2008 Available online at http://www.banglajol.info/index.php/jard ISSN 1810-1860 JARD Journal of Agriculture & Rural Development Yield and Quality of Rice as Affected by Molybdenum Applied With Chemical Fertilizers and Organic Matter P. BALA1* & S. M. A. HOSSAIN2 1 2 Agricultural Studies, Lalmia City College, Gopalgonj, Bangladesh Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted at the field laboratory of the Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh to evaluate the effect of molybdenum (Mo) with recommenced chemical fertilizer and organic matter on yield and quality of rice cv. BRRI dhan 30. Three levels of Mo viz. 0, 100 and 200 ppm were applied with recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (80, 15, 40, -1 10, 1.5 kg ha NPKSZn) and organic matter as both cow dung and compost. Plant height, number of -1 ear bearing tillers hill , straw yield and biological yield were maximum when 100 ppm Mo was applied -1 -1 with chemical fertilizer. Number of total spikelets panicle , grains panicle , nitrogen content, nitrogen uptake in grain and straw, and protein content in grain were recorded better when 100 ppm Mo was applied with cowdung. Those parameters were minimum when 0 ppm Mo was applied with either cowdung or compost or NPK. The best performance was obtained when 100 ppm Mo was applied either with recommended fertilizers or with cow dung/compost. The performance of rice with 200 ppm of Mo was better than no addition of Mo in respect of yield and yield contributing characters. Key words: Molybdenum, quality, rice, yield. INTRODUCTION Rice (Oryza sativa. L) is the most important cereal crop in Bangladesh. Approximately 75% of the total cultivated land covering about 11.58 million hectares (ha) produces approximate 30 million tons of rice annualy BBS (2006). In Bangladesh, per ha yield of rice is much lower (3.55 t/ha) than that of Australia, Korea Republic and China (9.7, 6.6 and 6.2 t/ha, respectively) FAO (2007). One of the main reasons for low yield is considered for use of imbalance fertilizers or lack of soil micronutrient, especially Magnesium (Mg), Boron (B) and Molybdenum (Mo) (Jahiruddin et al., 1995). On the contrary of the total nutrients used in the country, Nitrogen (N) alone constitutes about 80% which may lead to nutrient imbalance in the soil plant ecosystem. Molybdenum participates in the nitrate reduction system of nitrogen metabolism in higher plants and it is associated with the biochemical fixation of nitrogen and nitrate assimilation (De, 1999). The reduction of oxidised form of nitrogen, nitrate to ammonia, is a biological redox potential system. Significant increase in protein content of grains increased due to application of Mo. Thus, lack of Mo impares not only physiological processes of plant, but also grain quality. Soil organic matter in Bangladesh is below critical level (1.5%) (BARC, 1997). The climate of tropical countries like Bangladesh is a major constraint to the maintenance of soil organic matter. * Corresponding author: Lecturer, Lalmia City College, Gopalgonj, Mobile: 01712-122612; E-mail: © 2008 School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Bangladesh Open University, All rights reserved. P. Bala & S. M. A. Hossain Cowdung is the most ancient organic matter source and has long been considered as a desirable soil amendment. The present experiment has been designed to analyze the effects of Mo with recommended fertilizers and organic matter on the yield and quality of rice. MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, during the period from July 2004 to December 2004. The soil of the experiment field belongs to Non calcareous Dark Grey Flood Plain Soil under the Sonatola Series of Old Brahmaputra Flood Plain which falls in Agroecological zone-9. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four (4) replications. Layout of the experiment was done with inter-plot spacing of 0.75 m and inter-block spacing of 1.0 m. The unit 2 plot size was 6 m (3 m X 2 m) and total numbers of unit plots were 36. Row to row and plant to plant spacing were 20 cm and 15 cm, respectively. Rice variety BRRI dhan 30 was used in this -1 experiment. The experimental plots were fertilized with 80, 15, 40, 10, 1.5 kg ha NPKSZn and 0 -1 ppm, 100 ppm and 200 ppm Mo ha , respectively in the form of urea, triple super phosphate, muriate of potash, gypsum, zinc sulphate and ammonium molybdate. The plots or treatments in which organic fertilizer such as decomposed cowdung or farm yard manure (FYM) and compost -1 -1 were applied @ 7 kg plot and 14 kg plot , respectively. The value of nutrient composition such as NPKS of cowdung and compost were 1.6, 0.2, 3.4, 0.2 and 0.8, 0.05, 0.5 and 0.2, respectively and was subtracted from the original rate of fertilizer. Total amount of the chemical fertilizer without urea were applied as basal dose. Urea was applied as top dressing in three equal splits, at 7 days after transplanting (DAT), 30 DAT and 45 DAT, respectively. The control plots received no organic fertilizer and Mo, but other fertilizers were used as common doses. Thirty three days old seedlings were transplanted on August 9, 2004 and harvested on November 27, 2004 (108 DAT). There was negligible infestation of insect-pests during the crop growth period. Yet to keep the crop growth in -1 -1 normal, basudin was applied at tillering stage @ 17 kg ha while diazinon 60 EC @ 850 ml ha were applied to control stem borer and rice bug. The grain and straw samples were analyzed for N content following semimicro Kjeldahl procedure. To estimate the protein in grain, grain nitrogen was multiplied by 5.95 (Anonymous, 1980). The result was expressed in percentage. The analysis of variances of various plant characters, nitrogen content and uptake were done with help of computer package M-STAT Program. The mean differences among the treatments were compared by Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT) (Gomez and Gomez, 1984). RESULTS Treatment effects on yield and yield attributes, N contents, N uptake in grain and straw and protein in grain are presented in Table 1 and 2. Plant height of BRRI dhan 30 was significantly influenced by the application of Mo with NPK and organic matter. The highest plant height (121 cm) was recorded from the treatments T2 (NPK+100 ppm Mo) and the lowest plant height (115.4 cm) was found from T4 (cowdung+0 ppm Mo). -1 Number of ear bearing tillers hill ranged from 5.9 to 7.6. The highest number (7.6) of -1 productive tillers hill produced in T2 (NPK+100 ppm Mo) and the lowest in T7 (compost+0 ppm Mo). However, when 100 ppm Mo was added to the treatments, the numbers of bearing tillers hill-1 were the maximum. Number of filled grains panicle-1 varied significantly across the grains pan (...truncated)