Effect of seedling treatment and foliar spray of nano-DAP on kharif rice

More than half of the world's population depends on rice (Oryza sativa L.) as a staple food, making it the most significant cereal crop in developing nations. Rice production greatly depends upon the nature of the soil. Soil is greatly altered by the extensive use of chemical fertilizers, which also lower soil fertility, harm plants, promote soil erosion, and lower NUE (nutrient use efficiency). Adopting Nano-DAP in kharif rice cultivation is a game-changer for enhancing productivity, reducing costs, and ensuring environmental sustainability. A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2023 at the Agriculture Farm of Palli Siksha Bhavana (Institute of Agriculture), Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal. The experiment results revealed that the highest value of growth parameters (plant height, no of tillers/hill, leaf area index), yield attributes (effective tillers/m2, filled grains/panicle, panicle length, test weight), yield (grain yield, straw yield, harvest index), economics (gross return, net return, B:C ratio) and highest nutrient use efficiency were observed in T7 (recommended dose of fertilizers @ 80:40:40 N: P2O5:K2O kg/ha + seedling treatment with nano-DAP for 30 min @ 0.4%+one foliar spray at tillering @ 4ml/l) and lowest values were recorded in T10 (control). Application of RDF at 80:40:40 N:P₂O₅:K₂O kg/ha + seedling treatment with nano-DAP for 30 min at 0.4% + one foliar spray at tillering at 4 ml/l registered the highest grain yield (5302 kg/ha), straw yield (8384 kg/ha), gross return (Rs.141804), net return (Rs.96188), and B:C ratio of 2.1. From the economic analysis of different treatments, it was observed that the highest B:C ratio was seen in the T7 treatment, followed by the T8 treatment. So, T8 treatment was also beneficial in economical aspect also.