B P International

During the 2008 and 2009 crop seasons, a field experiment was conducted in Imla, Gambella Zuria District, Gambella, southwestern Ethiopia, to determine the application rates of N and P fertilisers for rice variety NERICA-3 (Oryza sativa x Oryza glaberrima). Rice may provide grain yields of up to 10-18 t ha-1 in advanced rice-growing areas. However, due to poor crop management methods, its productivity in Ethiopia (2.31 t ha-1 of paddy rice) and Africa as a whole (2.31 t ha-1 of paddy rice) is well below the world average (4.35 t ha-1 of paddy rice). The treatments were factorial combinations of four rates of N (0, 46, 92, and 138 kg N ha-1) and P (0, 46, 92, and 138 kg P ha-1) (0, 23, 46 and 69 kg P ha-1) Plant height, panicle length, and grain quality are all measured in 1000 grains. Similarly, the effects of N on productive tillers plant-1, grains panicle-1, LAI, plant height, panicle length, grain yield, crude protein, ether extract, and crude fibre were significant (P (le) 0.01). W...

Nitrogen (N) is needed for all growth processes, as it is the major component of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, enzymes and the green pigment chlorophyll. Chlorophyll converts sunlight energy into plant energy in the form of sugars and carbohydrates. The sub surface drip fertigation is a technique to apply both water and fertilizers through drip irrigation system during the recent years were shown to be very effective in achieving higher water and fertilizer use efficiencies. The nutrient mobility study revealed that fertigation treatments maintained higher concentration of available nitrogen around root zone of banana compared to surface irrigation with soil application of recommended dose of fertilizers where most of the nutrients moved to deeper layer due to leaching fraction of applied fertilizers. In general, subsurface drip fertigation of 100 per cent RDF treatments in combination with liquid biofertilizers maintained higher available NPK in the post-h...

Nitrogen is one of the major essential plant nutrients and a key input required for better crop yields and therefore scarcity of nitrogen fertilizer has been a major constraint to rice production particularly in developing countries. Low soil fertility prevalent in farmer’s fields has led to low rice yields and the ever escalating fertilizer prices have made this important input unaffordable to most smallholder farmers who have limited resources for purchasing the required inputs. There has been concerted efforts to identify rice varieties that are tolerant to low soil nitrogen since varieties differ in their ability to impact productivity and some varieties can perform well under low nitrogen input.The Mwea Upland rice (MWUR) varieties have been bred under low fertilizer input environment while other authors have indicated that the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) gives high yields under low input conditions. There is therefore need to identify the superior rice varieties that are adapt...