Impact of Bacterial Inoculums, Organic Residues and Mineral Fertilization Levels on Growth Traits of Dry Direct Seeded Rice Grown under Aerobic Conditions

A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Gangavathi, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka during kharif seasons for two consecutive years (2019 and 2020) to study the influence of zinc and iron biofortification on physiological parameters of dry direct seeded rice under aerobic condition. The experiment was laid out in split plot design and comprised of two factors for the study viz., main plots and sub plot treatments. Perusal of pooled data of two years showed that, among the rice genotypes, G3: GNV-10-89 recorded significantly higher dry matter production accounted for 23.75, 69.92 and 82.73 g hill-1 at 60, 90 DAS and at harvest, respectively, leaf area 512.09, 543.92 and 376.57 cm2 hill-1, leaf area duration 45.60, 79.05 and 68.92 days and crop growth rate 34.78, 76.95 and 21.34 g cm-2 day-1 for the same sequences as compared to other genotype. With respect to micronutrient application, M6: Soil application of ZnSO4 @ 15 kg ha-1 and FeSO4 @ 10 kg ha-1 + foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5 % and FeSO4 @ 0.5 % at 30 and 45 DAS recorded significantly higher dry matter production (27.26, 80.88 and 93.22 g hill-1 at 60, 90 DAS and at harvest, respectively), leaf area (514.21, 542.65 and 382.68 cm2 hill-1 at 60, 90 DAS and at harvest, respectively), leaf area duration (46.27, 79.20 and 69.22 days during 30-60 DAS, 61-90 DAS and 91 DAS-at harvest, respectively) and crop growth rate (39.10, 89.37 and 20.56 g cm-2 day-1 at 30-60 DAS, at 61-90 DAS and at 91 DAS-at harvest, respectively) as compared to other micronutrient application. The observed trends during 2019 and 2020 were nearly closed to each other.