Extra fertilizer barely boosts rice yield over standard dose
Crop Improvement
If you grow rice or any heavy-feeding grain, this trial is a reminder that dumping on more nitrogen past a certain point mostly feeds the soil test numbers, not your harvest basket.
Researchers grew nine kinds of rice, some plain and some fragrant basmati types, and fed them three different amounts of nitrogen fertilizer. The extra-large dose did produce the single highest yields and left more nutrients behind in the soil, but the standard recommended amount came so close in grain output that the pricier, heavier dose wasn't really worth it. Different rice varieties also had their own strengths: one basmati type held onto more nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil, while a different variety pulled out the most potassium.
Key Findings
125% of the recommended nitrogen dose gave the highest yield (5734 kg/ha) and straw yield (7432 kg/ha), but grain yield was statistically similar to the 100% dose.
Soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium all rose significantly with higher nitrogen rates, while soil pH, electrical conductivity, and organic carbon were unaffected.
Genotype INGER 75 gave the highest grain yield (6159 kg/ha) and HKR 18-33 the highest straw yield (8883 kg/ha), while Basmati CSR 30 retained the most residual soil nitrogen and phosphorus.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A field trial in India found that rice growers can get nearly the same yield with the standard recommended nitrogen dose as with 25% extra fertilizer, meaning the higher dose mostly just adds cost and leftover nitrogen in the soil rather than more grain.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Studies on Nitrogen Requirement of New Genotypes of Non-scented and Scented Rice
A field experiment was conducted at the CCSHAU Rice Research Station, Kaul, during Kharif 2024 to evaluate the effects of nitrogen levels on productivity, nutrient uptake, and post-harvest soil fer...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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