Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(8): 1400-1408 1400 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.608.170 Rice Crop Response to Applied Copper under Varying Soil Available Copper Status at Tamilnadu, India R. Angelin Silviya* and P. Stalin Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction The world’s population is expected to hike about 9.7 billion by 2050 and the Indian population may increase to 1.6 billion from the current level of 1.2 billion (Shukla et al., 2014). Among the existing population, it has been reported that about 2 billion people of the world’s population have been affected by micronutrient malnutrition. As anticipated, deficiencies of micronutrients are highly prevalent in places where cereals with low nutritional quality are the main diet (Cakmak, 2008). In order to feed the increasing population and to overcome the nutritional disorder, agricultural intensification is required which will improve the food production and it will meet out the dietary nutrient requirement of humans. More than half of the world’s population consumes rice than other cereals (FAO, 2013). About 92 per cent of the world’s rice are produced and consumed in Asia and among the Asian continent; India has the largest area of 29.4 per cent global area under rice cultivation (Humaira et al., 2015). In Indian states, Tamil Nadu stays third in the rice production (Mahata et al., 2012). Micronutrients play a vital role in crop growth, crop productivity, soil fertility and human nutrition (Patel et al., 2015). Arnon and Stout (1939) proposed that, Cu is an essential element for plant growth. Among the International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 8 (2017) pp. 1400-1408 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The impact of graded levels of Cu (0, 0.5, 1.00, 1.50, 2.00, 2.50 kg ha -1 ) on the growth and yield of irrigated rice was studied by conducting field experiments in major rice growing tracts having varied soil Cu status at Tamil Nadu. The treatment plots were replicated four times in Randomized Block Design. Application of Cu @ 1.5 kg ha -1 recorded the highest plant height (95.0 cm), number of productive tillers m -2 (323.6), number of filled grains panicle -1 (107.6), test grain weight (24.5 g), grain yield (6.50 t ha -1 ) and straw yield (7.74 t ha -1 ). The highest values were recorded in the location No.4 where the initial soil Cu content was minimum (0.84 mg kg -1 ). The results indicated that, the Cu fertilization significantly increased the growth and yield parameters of rice crop in Cu deficient soils while the soils with adequate or high Cu status showed declining response. Keywords Micronutrient, Soil copper status, Copper fertilization, Rice growth and yield. Accepted: 17 June 2017 Available Online: 10 August 2017 Article Info