Impact of Plant Densities and Nitrogen Levels on Grain Yield and Yield Attributes of Transplanted Rice (Oryza Sativa. L)

The present investigation aimed to study the effect of three plant densities (farmers practice - zigzag planting : 26 hills m-2, 15x15cm : 44.44 hills m-2and 25x25 cm: 16 hills m-2) and four nitrogen levels (120, 180, 240 and 300 kg ha-1) on grain yield and yield attributes of transplanted rice. A field experiment was carried out at Agricultural Research Institute, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during Kharif 2012. The main results showed that plant density of 44.44 hills m-2 (15x15 cm) gave the highest number of panicles m-2, spikelets panicle-1, filled spikelets panicle-1, grain yield and straw yield over other plant densities. Application of graded levels of N significantly increased the grain yield, straw yield and yield attributing characters viz., panicles m-2, spikelets panicle-1, filled spikelets panicle-1 and test weight. The effect was significant up to a level of 180 kg N ha-1 and thereafter there was no significant increase.