Evaluation of different fertilizer management guidelines for boro rice cultivation in south central coastal region of Bangladesh

Abstract

Improving productivity and farm income is the challenge for the grower in rice cultivation. Therefore, a series of on-farm field experiments were conducted to evaluate comparative performance of different nutrient management practices in boro rice production in south central coastal region of Bangladesh. The performance of high yielding rice varieties were tested with four fertilizer management options, viz. (i) use of Rice Crop Manager (RCM), (ii) Soil Test Based (STB) fertilizer application, (iii) BRRI Recommended Fertilizer (BRF) application, and (iv) Farmers' Fertilizer Practice (FFP). Fertilizer management practices and variety interacted significantly to influence yield components like panicle m⁻², grains panicle⁻¹ and 1000-grain weight of rice. Similarly, grain yield of rice also significantly varied with the interaction of fertilizer management and rice varieties. Application of BRF produced maximum grain yield of boro rice. However, the grain yield produced with RCM was comparable with that of BRF management. The RCM involved lower fertilizer cost than that of BRF and FFP. Hence, the gross return and profit of rice obtained from RCM was similar with that in BRF. The cost dominant analysis confirmed that RCM was economic and profitable fertilizer management practices in southern Bangladesh.