Soil management and topdressing nitrogen doses on upland rice

Abstract

The influences of soil management and nitrogen fertilization are not well defined for upland rice. Thus, this research was carried out to evaluate the yield components, milled grain yield, and grain yield of upland rice cultivars under sprinkler irrigation, according to soil management and topdressing nitrogen doses. The experiment was conducted in Selvíria, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, under field conditions, for two consecutive harvest times: 2003/2004 (BRS Talento cultivar) and 2004/2005 (IAC 202 cultivar). The randomized blocks design was adopted, consisting of the combination of three soil management systems (disc harrow + leveling disc harrow, scarifier + leveling disc harrow, and no-till) and six topdressing nitrogen doses (0 kg ha^-1, 25 kg ha^-1, 50 kg ha^-1, 75 kg ha^-1, 100 kg ha^-1, and 125 kg ha^-1), with four replications. The leaf N concentration, plant height, yield components, milled grain yield, and grain yield were evaluated. The scarifier + leveling disc harrow system provided the highest grain yield for both cultivars, while the topdressing nitrogen fertilization just affected the IAC 202 cultivar yield, without affecting the milled grains yield.