Enhancing production, profitability and soil health with nano urea fertilization in late transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.)

India is one of the largest producers and consumers of rice in the world. In India, besides climatic factors, deterioration of soil fertility has been widely reported to be the major cause for stagnating rice productivity. Nano fertilizers possess a high surface area, excellent activity, improved catalytic surface, faster chemical reaction, rapid dispersibility and stronger water adsorption efficiency, which can be used for enhancing rice yield. An experiment was conducted to find the effect of urea and nano urea levels in rice at Binjhagiri, Chhatabar of Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, SOADU, Bhubaneswar (Odisha) during kharif, 2022, which was replicated thrice with Randomized Block Design. The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam in texture, neutral in reaction, high in organic carbon and available nitrogen and medium in available phosphorus and potassium. The experimental results revealed that 100% conventional N through urea + two foliar sprays of 0.4% nano urea resulted in significantly higher growth parameters, namely plant height (100.1 cm) at maturity, tillers/hill (14.4 no.) and LAI (5.00) at 60 days after transplanting (DAT) than other treatments. Similarly, the treatment with 100% conventional N through urea + two foliar spray of 0.4% nano urea gives significantly higher yield attributes resulting in maximum grain yield of 4164 kg/ha which was 38.25% higher over 100% conventional N through urea + water spray treatment and highest nutrient uptake (80.9, 18.6, 97.7 kg/ha N, P, K) as well as net return of ? 42018/ha.