Influence of Nitrogen Levels and Microbial Inoculation on Growth, Yield and Straw of Direct Seeded Basmati Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Background: Rice, a staple cereal, serves as the primary food for almost 50% of the world¢s population. Nitrogen is the predominant mineral element found in crops and serves as the primary constraint on Rice production. Direct-seeded rice cultivation has emerged as a potential alternative to traditional transplanting method. The goal is to provide insights that may be used to build sustainable agricultural methods that are specifically designed for Basmati rice production. Methods: This study aim to evaluate the effect of different N application levels (M1: 0 kg ha-1, M2: 40 kg ha-1 and M3: 60 kg ha-1) options as first factor with four microbial inoculation treatments (S1-Control, S2-Azosprillum (618g/ha) + Streptomyces’s (618g/ha), S3- Consortium (1235 g/ha) and S4-AMF (1235 g/ha). The experiment was conducted using a split-plot design (SPD) with three replications. Result: The study revealed that the maximum yield and yield attributes viz. plant height (116.47 cm), effective tillers ( 354.13 m2),leaf area index (2.64), no. of grains per panicle(84.17), length of panicle (24.66 cm), no. of filled grains per panicle (125.0), grain yield (54.30 q ha-1), straw yield ( 80.42 q ha-1), biological yield (134.72 q ha-1) and 1000-grain weight (24.64 g), maximum protein content (%) in grains (8.73%), straw (5.78%) was recorded in M3S2 i.e. 60 kg N ha-1 with azosprillum (618 g/ha) + streptomyces's (618 g/ha) significantly highest compared to other nitrogen levels and microbial inoculation treatments. Hence, the application of N @ 60 kg ha-1 along with azosprillum (618 g/ha)+Streptomyces¢s (618 g/ha) can be suggested to achieve higher rice grain yield, yield attributes and nitrogen content in grain and straw in DSR.