Field-specific variable rate fertilizer application based on rice growth diagnosis and soil testing for high quality rice production

This study was carried out to verify the applicability of variable rate fertilization (VRF) based on soil testing and diagnosis of rice plant growth for high quality rice production of var. Chucheongbyeo at the farm level. The field trials were conducted at Icheon in Gyeonggi province on a 10 ha farm consisting of 45 experimental fields. For comparative study, 15 field trials were carried out adopting fertilizer management (FPM) practices currently used by farmers. FPM fields were managed by each rice grower using current cultivation methods, but in each VRF field fertilizer application was prescribed using soil test results and the amount of N fertilizer for top-dressing at panicle initiation stage was calculated using rice growth value at that stage. In VRF fields, the total amount of N fertilizer application was less (72 kg ha−1) than that in FPM fields (103 kg ha−1). However, the amount of K2O fertilizer application was more in VRF fields (60 kg ha−1) than that in FPM fields (52 kg ha−1). The amount of P2O5 fertilizer application was similar between the VRF and FPM fields. Plant height was significantly shorter and the number of tillers was significantly more at VRF fields than at the FPM fields. Coefficient of variation (CV) of each growth characteristic measured in VRF was lower than that of FPM fields at panicle initiation stage. There was no difference in culm and panicle length and panicle number between them at the grain filling stage, but CV of panicle numbers per m2 decreased in VRF compared with that of the FPM fields. Rice yield was not different between VRF and FPM fields despite higher brown rice recovery and 1,000-grain weight in VRF fields. Under VRF management, head rice yield increased due to an increase in head rice ratio accompanied by a reduction in brown rice protein content and variation of quality characteristics. These results suggest that VRF application based on soil tests and measurement of rice growth value at panicle initiation stage has the potential for quality control and production of high quality rice through increasing uniformity of growth and reducing the variability in quality among individual fields.