Evaluation of Yield and Yield Components of Rice cv. ‘Tarom Hashemi’ in System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Conventional Systems

Application of organic fertilizer, reduced plant density in nursery and adjusted water deficit are needed in the system of rice intensification (SRI). The present research was conducted to evaluate the effect of some attributes of this system in term of the yield and yield components of rice cv. ‘Tarom Hashemi’. 

The present research was conducted in a split split plot experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications in 2018. The main plots included the irrigation method in two levels (flooding and deficit irrigation regimes), the sub plots were fertilizer types at three levels (control, chemical and vermicompost fertilizers) and sub sub plots were seedling density in nursery at three levels (100, 200 and 300 gram of seed per square meter). 

According to the results of variance analysis and significant interaction between factors, application of SRI (vermicompost + 200 g seed.m-2) improved paddy yield (4613.40 kg.ha-1) nearly similar to chemical fertilizer throughout improving plant characteristics such as number of tillers per square meter and fertile tiller. The results also, showed that biological yield in SRI treatment (vermicompost + 200 g seed per square meter) with average of 12335.60 kg.ha-1 was not statistically different from chemical fertilizer + 200 g seed per square meter. Furthermore, using adjusted water deficit irrigation decreased the paddy yield by only four percentage as compared to the conventional irrigation. 

In general, to avoid environmental problems caused by overusing of chemical fertilizer and, to reduce seed density in nursery and to improve water productivity, SRI i.e. integration of vermicompost fertilizer + 200 g seed per square meter + adjusted water deficit irrigation could be recommended.