Effect of organic fertiliser as a basal fertiliser on growth, yield and disease incidence of local fragrant rice varieties

The effect of organic fertiliser as a basal fertiliser on the performance and disease incidence of local fragrant rice varieties, MRQ 74 and MRQ 76 was studied during main-season 2012/2013 and off-season 2013. Organic fertiliser at the rates of 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500 and 3,000 kg/ha which equivalent to 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 kg N/ha respectively, were incorporated into the soil a week before seedlings were manually transplanted. No organic fertiliser was used in the control. Results indicated that organic fertiliser contributes to number of tillers and SPAD value. SPAD value increased by 20% when organic fertiliser at the rate of 1,500 kg/ha and more was applied to the plant. Higher number of tillers was observed when organic fertiliser at the rate of 2,000 kg/ha was given as a basal fertiliser. Yield was affected by season and organic fertiliser. The yield of MRQ 74 was 57.34% higher than MRQ 76 during MS 2012/2013. The yield recorded during OS 2013 was higher than MS 2012/2013 for all organic fertiliser rates tested including control. Application of organic fertiliser up to 3,000 kg/ha encourages the incidence of sheath blight disease which increased by 39.7% than the control.