Soil fertility status and productivity of Rice as influenced by Neem Cake-Urea mixed application

A field experiment was conducted during kharif-2016 at ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Mangaluru of Karnataka state to study the effect of neem cake urea mixed application on soil fertility status and productivity of rice under submerged condition. The soil of the experimental field was lateritic with acidic pH, medium in available nitrogen, high in phosphorus and low in potassium content. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design replicated thrice with seven treatments comprising of five neem cake and urea mixed application in various combinations along with one control and one treatment comprising application of recommended dose of nitrogen in form of urea. Soil samples were collected at harvest and analyzed for parameters of soil fertility. The results indicated that soil pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium were not significantly influenced by treatment combinations of urea and neem cake. The grain yield (55.0 q/ha) and straw yield (4.35 tons/ha) was significantly higher in treatment T3 comprising of 100 % RDN applied in three splits with application of 100% recommended quantity of Neem cake. This was followed by treatment T4 (52.0 q/ha grain yield and 4.28 tons/ha straw yield) consisting of 75% RDN with 100% recommended quantity of Neem cake. The lowest grain yield (38.0 q/ha) and straw yield (3.46 tons/ha) was recorded in control (T1) where nitrogen and neem cake was not applied.