Yield and quality of aromatic fine rice as affected by variety and nutrient management

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, to study the yield and quality of aromatic fine rice as affected by variety and nutrient management during the period from June to December 2013. The experiment comprised three aromatic fine rice varieties viz. BRRI dhan34, BRRI dhan37 and BRRI dhan38, and eight nutrient managements viz. control (no manures and fertilizers), recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers, cowdung at 10 t ha-1, poultry manure at 5 t ha-1, 50% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% cowdung, 50% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% poultry manure, 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% cowdung and 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% poultry manure. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The tallest plant (142.7 cm), the highest number of effective tillers hill-1 (10.02), number of grains panicle-1 (152.3), panicle length (22.71cm), 1000-grain weight (15.55g) and grain yield (3.71 t ha-1) were recorded in BRRI dhan34. The highest grain protein content (8.17%) was found in BRRI dhan34 whereas the highest aroma was found in BRRI dhan37 and BRRI dhan38. The highest number of effective tillers hill-1(11.59), number of grains panicle-1 (157.6), panicle length (24.31 cm) and grain yield (3.97 t ha-1) were recorded in the nutrient management of 75% recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% cowdung (5 t ha-1). The treatment control (no manures and fertilizers) gave the lowest values for these parameters. The highest grain yield (4.18 t ha-1) was found in BRRI dhan34 combined with 75% recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% cowdung, which was statistically identical to BRRI dhan34 combined with 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% poultry manure and the lowest grain yield (2.7 t ha-1) was found in BRRI dhan37 in control (no manures and fertilizers). The highest grain protein content (10.9 %) was obtained in the interaction of BRRI dhan34 with recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers which was as good as that of BRRI dhan38 and 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% poultry manure. The highest aroma was found in BRRI dhan38 combined with 75% recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + 50% cowdung.