Effect of green manuring and biofertilizers on rice production

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the various components of integrated plant nutrient system on transplanted rice in plateau region of Jharkhand during wet seasons of 2006 to 2008. Combined application of 50% of recommended dose through chemical fertilizers and 25% N through farmyard manure along with in situ green manuring and blue green algae improved growth and yield attributing characters resulted in an increase in yield of rice variety Lalat (19.3%) as compared to that of recommended fertilizer dose. Increase in nutrient uptake (21.4, 29.0 and 16.9% of N, P and K, respectively) and improvement of the soil physico-chemical properties like organic carbon (0.34 to 0.44%), available N (220.3 to 254.0 kg ha⁻¹), P (21.2 to 25.8 kg ha⁻¹) and K status (153.0 to 159.0 kg ha⁻¹) were also recorded. The maximum net return (Rs 22160 ha⁻¹) and benefitcost ratio of 2.23 were also noted under the combined nutrient application.