Effect of Precision Water and Nitrogen Management on Yield Attributes and Yield of Aerobic Rice under Drip System

A Field experiment was conducted at Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) during Rabi season of 2020 and 2021, with an objective to study the effect of precision water and nitrogen management on yield attributes and yield of aerobic rice under drip system. Treatments included three precision irrigation management methods- {I1 (DRIP irrigation 1.5 Epan in Flat bed system); I2 (DRIP irrigation 1.5 Epan in Raised bed system) and I3 {Surface irrigation (up to saturation)}} and four precision nitrogen management practices- N1 {Recommended practice (RDF)-(120:60:40 N P K kg ha-1)}; N2 {Green seeker (Optical sensor) based N application}; {N3 (LCC based N application) and N4­­ (No Nitrogen)} replicated thrice. Results of experiment shows that, the performance of aerobic rice was better when it was managed with precision ‘N’ management tools like LCC based ‘N’ application with surface method of irrigation in terms of recording higher yield attributes and yield. Among irrigation methods, higher values of yield attributes such as no of panicles m-2 (144), length of panicle (21.7 cm), panicle weight (3.4 g), filled grains panicle-1 (109.3), total grains panicle-1 (128.7), test weight (21.6 g), grain yield (4171 kg ha-1) and lowest sterility percentage (15.6%) were observed under surface irrigation followed by drip irrigation with raised beds during both years (mean). Significantly higher values for above parameters were recorded under LCC based N application (148, 21.7 cm, 3.5 g, 114.5, 132.4, 21.5 g, 4230 kg ha-1 and 13.7%) followed by recommended practice among nitrogen management practices. The experimental data revealed that, cultivating rice under aerobic ecosystem with drip irrigation along with precision nitrogen management tools like LCC and greenseeker aids in recording high yield and yield attributes besides saving water and nutrients.