Journal of Experimental Agriculture International

Background: Fine rice is called aromatic rice due to its fragrance and rising demand in the local and international markets. Although modern fine rice varieties such as BRRI dhan50, BRRI dhan89 and BRRI dhan63 have been developed for improved productivity, the study has not been conducted to find the effect of different fertiliser packages on the growth and yield of modern rice in haor areas in Bangladesh.

Aim: The experiment aimed to investigate fertiliser management for increasing the yield of modern rice varieties cultivated in the Hakaluki haor area.

Study Design: The experiment followed a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications.

Place and Duration of Study: A farmer's field experiment was conducted at Faridpur village, Fenchugonj, Sylhet district, from November 2020 to May 2021.

Methodology: The experiment included two factors, viz., factor A- V₁: BRRI dhan50 and V₂: BRRI dhan89 and factor B- F₁: Recommended Fertiliser Dose (RFD), F₂: RFD + 20%, F₃: RFD-20%, F₄: farmers’ practices (FP). Data were collected on plant height, tiller number hill^-1, effective tiller number hill^-1, total grains, sterile spikelet panicle^-1, panicle length, 1000-grain weight, and grain and straw yield. Chemical analyses of soil before cultivation and after harvest were also done with the following standard methods. 

Results: The experiment showed that BRRI dhan89 (84.2 cm) significantly performed better in terms of plant height hill^-1 than BRRI dhan50 at harvest, and the longest plant (91.7 cm) was observed in the F₁ treatment. Tillers number also significantly increased with the varietal performance and fertiliser application, including the highest tiller number per hill were 30.6 and 38.3 cm, recorded at BRRI dhan89 and F₁ dose, respectively. Additionally, the highest grain number (116) panicle^-1 was found in F₂ treatment, whereas the longest panicle (23.4 cm), grain yield (6.3 t ha^-1), and straw yield (6.8 t ha^-1) were recorded in F₁ treatment, except 1000-grains weight (19.6 g) in F₃ treatment. The interactions of the modern variety BRRI dhan89 and RFD resulted in a significant increase in the yield of rice. Nutritional status of the initial and post-harvest soil was analysed and found to be slightly changed.

Conclusion: Overall, the experiment indicated that the selection of a suitable variety of rice with balanced fertiliser application would increase the yield of fine rice as well as improve soil fertility in the haor area.