Effect of crop rotation, Azotobacter chroococcum inoculation and nitrogen rate on rice (Oryza sativa L.) paddy yield

Background and objectives: A considerable portion of chemical N fertilizer in rice field is lost through denitrification, volatilization, leaching, causing environmental pollution problems. It seems that incorporation of winter legume crops in rotation with rice and using plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria can be alternative approaches in reducing N chemical fertilizer and increasing sustainable crop production in rice fields. This experiment was conducted at Rice Research Station of Tonekabon, Mazandaran province, during growing season of 2013-2014 to evaluate the effect of crop rotation, Azotobacter chroococcum inoculation and N rates on rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Shiroudi) paddy yield.
Materials and methods: The experiment was conducted as split-factorial arrangement based on a Randomized Complete Blocks with three replications. Main plots were crop rotation [berseem clover - rice, faba bean- rice, and fallow – rice (control)] and subplots were the factorial arrangement of Azotobacter chroococcum (inoculated and un-inoculated) and N rate (50, 75, and 100 percent of N recommended rates which were 50, 75 and 100 kg N ha-1, respectively) levels.
Results: Analysis of variance showed that rice paddy yield was significantly affected by crop rotation, Azotobacter chroococcum and N rate. Rice paddy yield in faba bean – rice crop rotation (6174.8 kg ha-1) was significantly lower than fallow – rice (7352.3 kg ha-1) and berseem clover – rice (7554.8 kg ha-1) crop rotations. Moreover, there was no significant difference in paddy yield between fallow – rice and berseem clover – rice crop rotations. Rice paddy yield was significantly increased by 8% after Azotobacter chroococcum inoculation. Rice paddy yield was significantly increased from 6628.8 to 7340 kg ha-1 as N rate increased from 50 to 75 kg ha-1, but further N application (100 kg ha-1) had no significant effect on paddy yield. Of the yield components, panicle number per m2 was significantly affected by crop rotation, Azotobacter chroococcum inoculation and N rate, while grain number per panicle was significantly affected only by crop rotation. Moreover, 1000-grain weight was not significantly affected by any factors. The highest panicle number per m2 was observed in berseem clover – rice crop rotation (352.1 panicles), N fertilizer at the rate of 100 kg ha-1 (362.0 panicles) and Azotobacter chroococcum inoculation (353.2 panicles). The highest grain number per panicle (105.8 grains) was observed in berseem clover – rice crop rotation, while the lowest one (96.3 grains) was observed in faba bean – rice crop rotation.
Conclusion: Based on the result of this experiment, in all crop rotations with rice, the highest paddy yield was obtained in nitrogen application at the rate of 75 kg ha-1 and plants inoculated with Azotobacter chroococcum.