Dr. N. VENKATA LAKSHMIJAYASANKAR, M2017-10-102017-10-102015http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810032679D5162A field experiment entitled “Productivity of direct seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.) as influenced by organics and zinc application” was conducted to study the effect of organics and zinc application on growth, productivity and quality of direct seeded rice on sandy clay loam soil of the Agricultural College Farm, Bapatla during kharif, 2014. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications and consisting of nine treatments viz., RDF (T1), RDF + FYM @ 10 t ha-1 (T2), RDF + Urban compost @ 10 t ha-1 (T3), RDF + ZnSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 as basal soil application (T4), RDF + FYM @ 10 t ha-1 + ZnSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 as basal soil application (T5), RDF + Urban compost @ 10 t ha-1 + ZnSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 as basal soil application (T6), RDF + FYM @ 10 t ha-1 + Foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% at 20 and 40 DAS (T7), RDF + Urban compost @ 10 t ha-1 + Foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% at 20 and 40 DAS (T8) and RDF + Foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% at 20 and 40 DAS (T9). Recommended dose of fertilizer (120: 60: 40 kg NPK ha-1) was commonly applied to all the treatments. The test variety used was BPT – 5204 (Samba Mahsuri). Data collected on growth parameters viz., plant height, number of tillers m-2, drymatter accumulation of direct seeded rice revealed that all the growth parameters were significantly higher with RDF + FYM @ 10 t ha-1 + ZnSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 as basal soil application (T5) which was, however, comparable with T7, T6 and T8 treatments, but proved to be superior to rest of the treatments. RDF applied without organics and Zn, recorded the lowest growth parameters. There was a significant improvement in all the yield attributes (productive tillers m-2, total and filled grains panicle-1 and test weight), grain and straw yields of direct seeded rice with application of RDF along with FYM @ 10 t ha-1 + ZnSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 as basal soil application (T5), however, it was on a par with the treatments T7, T6 and T8. Significant increase in nutrient uptake (N, P, K and Zn) by rice crop at PI stage and at harvest was observed with RDF + FYM @ 10 t ha-1 + ZnSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 as basal soil application (T5) and proved significantly superior to T4, T9, T2, T3 and T1 but found to be on a par with T7, T6 and T8 treatments. Application of RDF along with FYM @ 10 t ha-1 in conjunction with ZnSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 as basal soil application (T5) significantly enhanced quality parameters like amylose content (%), protein content (%) and volume expansion ratio of grain from direct seeded rice. Low per cent of amylose and protein contents was registered with the application of RDF without organics and zinc. Overall, the study indicated that combined application of organics and zinc along with recommended dose of fertilizer proved beneficial for realizing higher growth characters, yield attributes, yield and quality parameters in direct seeded rice.en-USnullThesis