Growth, yield components and yield of hybrid rice as influenced by nitrogen levels and time of Homo-Brassinolide application

A field experiment was conducted on hybrid rice during the kharif season of 2011 at the farm of Palli Siksha Bhavana (Institute of Agriculture), Visva Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal to study the effect of nitrogen and homo-brassionlide on growth and productivity of hybrid rice. The experiment was laid out in FRBD with five levels of nitrogen viz. N0, N60, N120, N180 and 240 kg ha−1 and three levels spraying of homo-brassionlide viz. active tillering (AT), active tillering + panicle initiation (PI) and active tillering +panicle initiation + flowering (FL). The results showed that hybrid rice responded well to fertilizer application. Application of 180 kg N improved all the growth attributes such as plant height, number of tillers m−2 and dry matter accumulation and increased the yield attributes like number of panicles m−2, panicle length, number of grains panicle−1, percentage of filled grain and test weight that ultimately led to high crop productivity. The spray of homo-brassinolide has a significant effect on plant height, number of tillers m−2 and dry matter accumulation and increased the yield attributes like number of panicles m−2, panicle length, number of grains panicle−1, percentage of filled grain and test weight that ultimately led to high crop productivity. Among the spraying, thrice spraying of homo-brassinolide i.e. at AT+PI + FL recorded significantly higher yield parameters and yield as compared to AT, MT+PI. The study advocated cultivating hybrid rice 180 kg N with for its high productivity.