NUTRITION OF RICE (ORYZA-SATIVA) THROUGH AZOLLA ORGANIC MATERIALS ANDUREA

A field experiment was conducted during wet and dry (boro) seasons of 1989-91 to compare the contribution of different sources of organic ma terials along with chemical fertilizer in rice (Oryza sativu L.) nutri tion. Eighteen treatments were tested to find out their effect on grow th, yield and nutrition of rice as well as fertility status of 'IR 36' soil.. All the organic materials and chemical fertilizer showed signi ficant effect on growth and yield of 'IR 36' rice The highest grain yi eld along with uptake of N, P and K was recorded with the application of Azolla @ 10 tonnes/ha + N-30 (30 kg N/ha) + N-30 + N-30 during dry season, while Azolla @ 10 tonnes/ha + N-15 + N-15 + N-15 recorded the highest yield in wet season. Ipomoea @ 10 tonnes/ha was found statisti cally at par with Azolla @ 10 tonnes/ha. Uptake of N, P and K increase d significantly due to different treatments over the control. However, effect on status of N, P and K in soil varied due to different treatm ents. The incorporation of Azolla @ 10 tonnes/ha along with 45 and 90 kg N/ha could provide more than 4.5 and 6.5 tonnes/ha grain yield duri ng wet and dry season respectively: besides maintaining fertility stat us of soil for sustained crop productivity.