EFFECT OF ZINC ON THE PERFORMANCE OF RICE VARIETIES

Abstract

The experiment was conducted during December 2020 to June 2021 in the farm of Shere-Bangla

Agricultural University to study the effect of micronutrient zinc on the performance of rice varieties. The experiment consisted of two factors: Factor A: two varieties viz. V 1 (BRRI dhan84) and V 2 (BRRI dhan88) and Factor B: eight Zn treatments viz. T 1 (STB-RD; N, P, K, S, Zn @ 83, 15, 56, 13.5 and 2.7 kg ha -1 ), T 2

without Zn), T 3 (T 1 + 1.35 kg ha -1 Zn; T 1 (T 1 – Zn; T 1 + 50% higher Zn applied as soil application) T 4

(T 1 + 2.7 kg ha -1 Zn; T 1 + 100% higher Zn applied as soil application), T 5 but Zn applied as foliar application), T 6 (T 1 + 1.35 kg ha -1 Zn; T 1 + 50% higher Zn applied as foliar application) T 7 (T 1 + 2.7 kg ha -1 Zn; T 1 + 100% higher Zn applied as foliar application) and T 8 (control/native supply of nutrients; no nutrient was applied). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Between two varieties, V 2 (BRRI dhan88) gave best performance on different parameters and gave maximum grain yield (5.62 t ha -1 (T 1 ) in comparison to V 1

(BRRI dhan84). This variety also showed maximum nutrient content (organic carbon, P and S) in post harvest soil. Among different treatments, T 4 (T 1 + 2.7 kg ha + 100% higher Zn applied as soil application) showed best performance on different growth and yield parameters and gave maximum grain yield (7.12 t ha -1 ) and also showed higher nutrients content (P, K and S) in post harvest soil compared to other treatments. Among different treatment combinations of variety and zinc, V 2 T 4 gave the maximum number of tillers hill -1 (17.55), number of effective tillers hill -1 (16.11), panicle length (27.34 cm), number of filled grains panicle -1 (161.70), grain yield (7.39 t ha -1 1 ) and harvest index (46.60%) whereas the minimum was recorded from V 1 -1 Zn; T 1 ), straw yield (8.47 t ha (BRRI dhan84 × control/native supply of nutrients; no nutrient was applied). So, the treatment combination of V 2 T 4 (BRRI dhan88 × T 1 + 2.7 kg ha -1 Zn; T 1 + 100% higher Zn applied as soil application) can be considered as the best compared to the rest of the treatment combinations.