EFFECT OF VARIOUS DOSES OF FERTILIZER ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF SPRING RICE AT SHREENAGAR, SALYAN
ABSTRACT
At Shreenagar, Salyan, Nepal, a study was done to see how different amounts of NPK fertilizer affected the growth and yield of spring rice (Oryza sativa). The experiment followed a simple randomized complete block design with five treatments (control, RDF, 50% of RDF, 75% of RDF, and 125% of RDF) and four replications. Data related to growth and yield attributes and yield are collected. MS Excel was used for data entry, tabulation, and graphing, and the results were analyzed using R (version 4.4.1) with mean comparisons performed via the LSD test at a 5% significance level. The significantly highest plant height and tiller numbers per hill were observed with 125% of RDF (RDF: 100:30:30 NPK kg/ha). A twenty-five percent increase in the recommended dose of fertilizer consistently outperformed the other treatments in terms of flag leaf length, panicle characteristics, grain yield, and thousand-grain weight, and the control exhibited the significantly lowest values for these parameters. A twenty-five percent increase in RDF resulted in a significantly higher grain yield per hectare (4488.88 kg) and thousand-grain weight (22.10 g). The benefit-cost ratio was also significantly higher in 125% of RDF (1.41), showing its superior economic performance, while the control had the significantly lowest benefit-cost ratio of 0.80. Rice cultivation by adopting 125% of fertilizer will be more profitable than other fertilizer management practices. These findings highlight the importance of optimizing fertilizer doses to improve rice growth, yield, and profitability.