Effect of the Biofertilizer (Azolla pinnata) in Combination with Inorganic Fertilizers on Growth and Yield of Rice Mohamad Izdzuan bin Mohamad Khair 1 , Elisa Azura Azman* 2 , Roslan Ismail 3 , Muhammad Naim Fadzli Abdul Rani 4 1 Program Agronomi & Sistem Pengeluaran, Pusat Penyelidikan Padi dan Beras, Institut Penyelidikan dan Kemajuan Pertanian Malaysia (MARDI), Malaysia. Email: izdzuan@mardi.gov.my | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4268-5127 2 Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. Email: elisa@upm.edu.my | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7213-6682 3 Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. Email: roslanismail@upm.edu.my | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0219-5393 4 Program Agronomi & Sistem Pengeluaran, Pusat Penyelidikan Padi dan Beras, Institut Penyelidikan dan Kemajuan Pertanian Malaysia (MARDI), Malaysia. Email: naim@mardi.gov.my | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5732-2831 *Corresponding author Abstract This study was conducted at Malaysia Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Seberang Perai, Penang (Malaysia), that aims to examine the impacts of the application of Azolla pinnata on the growth and performance of rice of the MR 297 variety. The experiment consisted of five treatments: PK + Azolla (T1); NP + Azolla (T2); NK + Azolla (T3); NPK-Control (T4), and Azolla only (T5). Each treatment had four replicates. The experimental design used was a complete randomized block design (RCBD), and all data collected were analyzed using one-way ANOVA with a statistically significant 0.05% test. For the average soil analysis between the beginning and end, all soil analyses showed decreased soil properties except total N and organic carbon. There is a significant effect on the tiller, panicles, yields, plant height, and SPAD value in crop growth performance. There was no significant effect observed on N and P among plant nutrients. In contrast, there was a significant treatment effect on K. This study concluded that the soil treated with NK + Azolla showed a comparable result with soil treated with inorganic fertilizer only for the total yield. Keywords Biofertilizer; Sustainable farming; Food security; Soil fertility; Plant nutrients How to cite this paper: Khair, M.I.M., Azman, E.A., Ismail, R. and Rani, M.N.F.A. (2021). Effect of the Biofertilizer (Azolla pinnata) in Combination with Inorganic Fertilizers on Growth and Yield of Rice. Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 4(4): 59-75. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.040405 Received: 13 October 2021 Reviewed: 29 November 2021 Provisionally Accepted: 30 November 2021 Revised: 10 December 2021 Finally Accepted: 15 December 2021 Published: 30 December 2021 Copyright © 2021 by author(s) This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. G. Poyyamoli Executive Editor Dr. Hasrat Arjjumend Associate Editor Dr. Maja Manojlovic Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, Vol.4 No.4 (December 2021) ISSN 2581-6853 | CODEN: GJNRA9 | Published by The Grassroots Institute Website: http://grassrootsjournals.org/gjnr | Main Indexing: Web of Science M – 00271 | Research Article ISSN 2581-6853 | 4(4) Dec 2021