Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 25;16(2):e0247529.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247529. eCollection 2021.

Deep placement of nitrogen fertilizer improves yield, nitrogen use efficiency and economic returns of transplanted fine rice

Ahlam Khalofah  1   2 , Muhammad Ifnan Khan  3 , Muhammad Arif  4 , Ansar Hussain  3 , Rehmat Ullah  5 , Muhammad Irfan  6 , Shahzadi Mahpara  3 , Rahmat Ullah Shah  7 , Mohammad Javed Ansari  8 , Antonin Kintl  9   10 , Martin Brtnicky  9   10   11 , Subhan Danish  7 , Rahul Datta  12
Affiliations

Deep placement of nitrogen fertilizer improves yield, nitrogen use efficiency and economic returns of transplanted fine rice

Ahlam Khalofah et al. PLoS One. .

Retraction in

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) feeds to two-third of the global population by serving as staple food. It is the main export commodity of several countries; thus, contributes towards foreign exchange earnings. Unfortunately, average global rice yield is far below than its genetic potential. Low nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) is among the major reasons for low average yield. Current study evaluated the impact of nitrogen fertilizer application methods (conventional and deep placement) on growth, yield-related traits, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, agronomic N-use efficiency (ANUE), partial factors productivity of applied N (PFP) and economic returns of two different transplanted rice varieties (Basmati-515 and Super-Basmati). Fertilizer application methods significantly affected allometry, yield-related traits, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP and economic returns. Deep placement of N-fertilizer (DPNF) observed better allometric traits, high chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP, yield attributes and economic returns compared to conventional application of N-fertilizer (CANF). Similarly, Basmati-515 had better allometric and yield-related traits, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP and economic returns than Super-Basmati. Regarding interactions among N-fertilizer application methods and rice varieties, Basmati-515 with DPNF resulted in higher chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP, allometric and yield related traits and economic returns than CANF. The lowest values of these traits were observed for Super-Basmati with no application of N-fertilizer. Both varieties had better yield and economic returns with DPNF compared to CANF. It is concluded that DPNF improved yield, ANUE and economic returns; therefore, should be opted to improve productivity of transplanted fine rice. Nonetheless, lower nitrogen doses need to be tested for DPNF to infer whether it could lower N use in rice crop.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following competing interests: AK and MB are paid employees of Agricultural Research Ltd. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The impact of different nitrogen fertilizer application methods on leaf area index of transplanted fine rice during 2018 (A) and 2019 (B) the vertical bars represent standard errors of means (n = 4).
Fig 2
Fig 2. The impact of different nitrogen fertilizer application methods on crop growth rate of transplanted fine rice during 2018 (A) and 2019 (B) the vertical bars represent standard errors of means (n = 4).
Fig 3
Fig 3. The impact of different nitrogen fertilizer application methods on net assimilation rate of transplanted fine rice during 2018 (A) and 2019 (B) the vertical bars represent standard errors of means (n = 4).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. FAO. Faostat.org.
    1. FAO I, UNICEF WFP and WHO (2019)‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019-Safeguarding against economic slowdowns and downturns’. Rome, FAO.
    1. Arouna A, Soullier G, Del Villar PM, Demont M (2020) Policy options for mitigating impacts of COVID-19 on domestic rice value chains and food security in West Africa. Global Food Security 26: 100405. 10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100405 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fei M, Jin Y, Jin L, Su J, Ruan Y, et al.. (2020) Adaptation of rice to the nordic climate yields potential for rice cultivation at most northerly site and the organic production of low-arsenic and high-protein rice. Frontiers in Plant Science 11: 329. 10.3389/fpls.2020.00329 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shrivastava P, Saxena RR, Xalxo MS, Verulkar S, Breeding P, et al.. (2012) Effect of high temperature at different growth stages on rice yield and grain quality traits. J Rice Res 5: 29–42.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources