Effect of polyolefin resin coated slow release iron fertilizer and its methods of application on rice production in calcareous soil

Experiment was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of different iron sources including polyolefin resin coated slow release Fe fertilizer (PRCCFe) and its methods of application on the performance of rice var. Swarna during rainy seasons of 2001 and 2002 under calcareous soil at Research Farm, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. The pots were tilled with 10 kg calcareous soil having high CaCO3 (36.32%) and low iron contents (1.45 ppm-less than critical limit). The experimental treatments comprised five iron sources (NPK + 100% pyrite, NPK + 100% polyolefin resin coated slow release Fe (PRCSRFe), NPK + 50% pyrite + 50% PRCSRFe, NPK + 75% pyrite + 25% PCRSRFe, and NPK + 25% pyrite + 75% PCRSRFe and two methods of application (uniform and co-situs) including one control (N-PK only). These 11 treatment combinations were laid out in Completely Randomized Block Design (CRBD) replicated thrice. The two methods of iron application did not differ significantly with respect to crop yield though higher yield was recorded with co-situs application. Among the Fe sources, application of iron 75% through pyrite + 25% through polyolefin resin coated slow release Fe fertilizer produced the highest grain yield.