Effect of Nursery Applications of N and P on Rice ( Oryza sativa L. ) Yield

Abstract

In two glasshouse experiments, one with N and the other with P, plants were treated with combinations of four and two levels of N or P in the nursery and after transplanting repectively. The relative responses of rice were determined form matter, nutriendt uptake and grin yield . After 21 days in the mursery, rice seedlings produced 50% and 100% more shoot dry matter when fertilized with N and Prespectively than when unfertilized. In the nursery, root day matter was also increased by N but not by P. After transplanting, the effects of the mursery N an dP persisted, leading to increases of up to 10 and 15% in grain yield, respectively. Nitroger and phosphorus applied in the nursery shoot dry weight at 30 days after planting, both with and without added N or P at transplanting. The results suggested that fertilizing the nursery bed would have significant effects on grain yield and that for rice farming in Cambodia, appropriate strategies for the fertilizer management of the nursery as well as the mainfield are requited in order to improve rice yield.