DETERMINING THE ZINC REQUIREMENTS OF RICE GENOTYPE SARSHAR EVOLVED AT NIA, TANDOJAM

Field experiments were carried out to study the effect of different levels of zinc (Zn) i.e. 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 kg Zn ha^-1 on the rice genotype Sarshar evolved at NIA, Tandojam. The results revealed that the plant height, productive tillers per hill, number of grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, straw and paddy yield showed increasing trend up to 9 kg Zn ha^-1. The Zn concentration in soil, rice grain and straw increased significantly with an increase in Zn level, upto15 kg ha^-1. The highest N uptake in rice grain and straw were found where zinc was applied at rate of 9 kg Zn ha^-1. However, a decrease in P concentration was found with the application of zinc. The highest average paddy yield (8.63 tons ha^-1), Plant height (108 cm), number of grains per panicle (194.5), 1000- grain weight (30.35 g) and productive tillers per plant (16) were recorded at 120 kg N and 90 kg P2O5 along with 9 kg Zn ha^-1. It is recommended that 120 kg N and 90 kg P2O5 along with 9 kg Zn ha^-1 may be adopted as the most economical dose for obtaining the maximum yield from this rice genotype under the agro-climatic conditions of Sindh.