Poultry Manure with Sulphur Increased Growth and Productivity of Rice (Oryza sativa L.), and Improved Soil Health for Sustainable Crop Production in Sub-Tropical Climate

An experiment was conducted at the Soil Science Research Field of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh during the period of December 2016 to April 2017 in order to investigate the effects of sulphur (S) and poultry manure (PM) on the growth and yield of boro rice (BRRI dhan29), as succeeding soil properties. Six different levels of sulphur and poultry manure were used as treatments viz., T0 = 0 kg S + 0 t PM ha-1, T1 =9 kgha-1 S + 0 t PM ha-1, T2 = 6.75 kgha-1 S + 1.5 t PM ha-1, T3 = 4.5 kgha-1 S + 3 t PM ha-1, T4= 2.25 kgha-1 S + 4.5 t PM ha-1, T5= 0 kgha-1 S + 6 t PM ha-1. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The experimental results revealed that plant height, 1000-seeds weight, unfilled grain, grain yield, straw yield were significantly influenced by S and PM. The treatment T3 produced the longest plant (91.67cm) and panicle (24.69 cm), the maximum number of tillers (15.45) and filled grain (156.9), while the lowest values (83.57cm, 22.49 cm, 12.20 and 134.00, respectively) were found in control condition. The minimum number of unfilled grains (18.88) was recorded in T3 treatment which was statistically different from other treatments, and the maximum unfilled grains (30.48) was obtained in T0 treatment. The 1000-grain weight (23.40) was highest in T3 treatment and lowest (21.65) in control treatment. The grain yield and straw yield of rice were significantly influenced with the application of S along with PM. It was found that the application of 4.5 kgha-1 S ha-1 and 4 t PM ha-1showed the highest grain (6.90 t ha-1) and straw yield (8.23 t ha-1) and harvest index (45.60%), whereas the lowest grain and straw yield was obtained without S and PM. Combined application of S and PM showed than sole S but sole application of PM also showed better results. Sole PM (T5) showed best results of soil properties like OM, total N, available P, and exchangeable K contents in the post-harvest soil which were statistically identical T3 and T4 treatments. The highest level of available S (20.69 ppm) was recorded at T2 which was at par with T3 treatment. Considering plant growth, yield and post-harvest soil health 4.5 kgha-1, S ha-1 and 4 t PM ha-1 may be suggested for the sustainable crop production.