Physiological Growth Parameters of Rabi Rice (Oryza sativa L.) under Alternate Wetting and Drying Irrigation with Varied Nitrogen Levels

Abstract

Rice [Oryza sativa (L.)] is one of the most important staple food crops in the world. In Asia, more than two billion people are getting 60-70 per cent of their energy requirement from rice and its derived products. Among the rice growing countries, India has the largest area (43.50 m ha) and it is the second largest producer (163.51 m t) of rice next to China (203.14 m t) with an average productivity of 3.76 t ha -1 , though increasing marginally, but is still well below the world‟s average yield of 4.51 t ha -1 (www.ricestat.irri.org). In India, Telangana State is a key rice producing state with 10.46 lakh hectares with a production of 30.47 million tonnes (Statistical Year Book, Telangana, 2017). A huge amount of water is used for the rice irrigation under the conventional water management in lowland rice termed as „„continuous deep flooding irrigation‟‟ consuming about 70 to 80 per cent International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 01 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com