Anjani Kumar Patel, Saroj Kumar Prasad, Prateek Kumar, Karan Bharti
A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, to evaluate the effect of sowing period and nitrogen management on number of leaves and leaf area index of direct seeded rice, during two consecutive Kharif seasons (2023 and 2024). The experiment was conducted in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) comprising fifteen treatment combinations, involving three levels of Factor I (sowing period: S1-1st fortnight of June, S2- 2nd fortnight of June, S3- 1st fortnight of July) and five levels of Factor II (nitrogen management: N0- control, N1- 100% N through urea (50% N at basal + 25% N at tillering (G21) + 25% N at stem elongation (G30), N2- 90% N through urea (25% N at basal + 50% N at tillering (G21) + 25% N at stem elongation (G30) + 10% N through vermicompost, N3- 80% N through urea (25% N at basal + 25% N at tillering (G21) + 50% N at stem elongation (G30) + 20% N through vermicompost, N4- 70% N through urea (50% N at basal + 50% N at flowering (G50) + 30% N through vermicompost). The number of leaves and leaf area index was measured at 30, 60 and 90 DAS. The result indicates that sowing period and nitrogen management significantly enhances these parameters at 60 and 90 DAS. Among the treatments, S1 (1st fortnight of June) and N2 (90% N through urea (25% N at basal + 50% N at tillering (G21) + 25% N at stem elongation (G30) + 10% N through vermicompost) recorded significantly higher value of these parameters. It can be concluded that sowing direct seeded rice during 1st fortnight of June and application of 90% nitrogen through urea {25% N at basal + 50% N at tillering (G21) + 25% N at stem elongation (G30)} + 10% N through vermicompost resulted in significant improvement in number of leaves and LAI of rice