Effects of Liming, Soil-Moisture Regimes, Application of Sulfur and Some Micronutrients on Nutrients Availability in Soil-Plant System and Yield of Rice in Acid Alluvial Soil

The productivity of wetland rice is constrained by the reduced availability of sulfur (S) and micronutrients like boron (B), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) in acid alluvial soil of West Bengal, India. A greenhouse study was conducted for two seasons (wet and winter 2007) using acid alluvial soil (Inceptisol, Durgapur, Silty loam) to evaluate the effects of liming, soil moisture regime and application of sulfur, boron, copper and zinc on the availability of applied nutrients, growth and yield of rice. The effects of application of lime (2.0 t/ha) over no lime; alternate flooding and drying (AFD) over continuous flooding (CF) and moisture regime maintained at field capacity (FC); and nutrients viz., S, B, Cu and Zn on growth and yield of rice were assessed. Rice cv. International Rice 36 (IR 36) was grown with N:P:K applied at the rate of 60:30:30 mg /kg of soil. S, B, Cu, and Zn were applied at the rate of 10, 0.5, 1.5 and 5 mg/kg of soil, respectively. Application of 22.4 kg S, 1.12 kg B, 3.36 kg Cu, and 11.2 kg Zn/ha significantly enhanced the growth and yield of rice over control in alluvial soil. Yield response of rice to the application of S, B, Cu and Zn was further improved (22.15%) by liming and alternate flooding and drying during the growing season.