Economic Viability of Conventional and Nano Urea on Different Crop Establishment Methods of Rice (Oryza sativa L.): A Cost and Benefits Analysis

A field study was carried out at the Agronomy Research Farm of Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, during the Kharif seasons of 2022 and 2023. The experiments were conducted in the SPD with three replications to ensure accuracy and reliability of the results. In this experiment three methods namely DSR, SRI and TPR were use in main plot, whereas seven levels of nitrogen, i.e. control, 100% RDN through conventional Urea, 100% RDN through Nano Urea, 80% RDN through conventional Urea + 20% RDN through Nano Urea, 60% RDN through conventional Urea + 40% through Nano Urea, 40% RDN through conventional Urea + 60% through Nano Urea and 20% RDN through conventional Urea + 80% through Nano Urea were applied in sub plot. The results showed that the use of 60% RDN through conventional urea integrated with 40% RDN through nano-urea resulted in significantly higher growth attributes such as dry matter accumulation(DMA), days taken to 50% Panicle initiation and maturity stage yield attributes like panicle length(cm), panicle weight, Number of panicles (m-2) and cost-benefit ratio. This was comparable to the application of 40% RDN through conventional urea combined with 60% RDN through nano-urea, which demonstrated a significant advantage over all other treatments over both years of investigation. Additionally, the SRI combined with 60% RDN through conventional urea + 40% RDN through nano-urea showed significantly higher DMA, days taken to 50% Panicle initiation and maturity stage yield attributes like panicle length(cm), panicle weight, Number of panicles (m-2) and cost-benefit ratio, with results comparable to the treatment of 40% RDN through conventional urea + 60% RDN through nano-urea. Both treatments demonstrated a notable superiority over all other treatments across both years of the study.