2024, Vol. 7, Issue 6, Part F

author(s)
Adila Kasim, Syama S Menon, Prameela P, Smitha John and Raji S Prasad

abstract
Rice is the most important agricultural crop which sustains more than 60% of the world's population as a dietary staple. Nano urea produced and patented by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited [IFFCO] is developed to replace conventional urea and it can curtail the requirement by at least 50 percent and it will increase the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) by 80-90 percent. The main aim of the experiment was to assess the effect of nano fertilizers on the growth and yield of rice. The eight treatment combinations were T_1- Nano urea (foliar) at active tillering & panicle initiation, T_{2 -} Urea spray at active tillering & panicle initiation, T_{3 -} Nano Urea followed by nano K (foliar) at active tillering & panicle initiation, T_4- Nano K (foliar) at active tillering & panicle initiation, T_5- Nano NPK (foliar) at active tillering & panicle initiation, T₆ - 19:19:19 spray at active tillering & panicle initiation, T₇- 90:45:45 kg N, P₂O₅ & K₂O (KAU POP) and T₈- Absolute control. The results showed that the application of nano urea @ 4ml/L as foliar topdressing at active tillering & panicle initiation recorded statistically similar results as that of 90:45:45 kg N, P₂O₅ & K₂O (KAU POP) in terms of growth, yield and nutrient use efficiency in rice.