2195 Environment & Ecology 33 (4C) : 2195—2199, October—December 2015 Website: environmentandecology.com ISSN 0970-0420 Effect of NPK Management and Bioinoculants on Growth and Yield of Wetland Rice (Oryza xativa L.) Ankit Patel, M. P. Neupane, Gangadhar Nanda, S. P. Singh Abstract A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2012evaluate the effect of NPK man- agement and bioinocu;lants on growth and yield of wetland rice cv HUBR 2-1. Factorial experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design involv- ing five levels of NPK management i.e. contro, 100% RDF, 50% RDF + 25% RDN as FYM, 50% RDF + 50% RDN as FYM and 75% RDF + 25% RDN as FYM and three levels of bioinoculants viz. azospirillum, BGA and azospirillum + BCA with fifteen treatment combi- nation replicated thrice. Application of NPK @ 75% RDF + 25% RDN as FYM produced significantly growth characters, yield attributes, grain and straw yields than its lower levels though found at par with 100% RDF. Combined application of azospirillum + BGA (B3) proved significantly superior over BGA or azospirillum alone, Economic analysis indicated that integration of NPK application 75% RDF + 25% RDN as FYM with azospirillum + BGA gave highest net return and B:C ratio. Keywords NPK management, Bioinoculants, FYM, Azospirillum, Rice. Received 20 December 2014; Accepted 15 February 2015; Published online 20 March 2015 A. Patel, G. Nanda M.Sc.(Ag.) Student, Department of Agronomy, LAg. Sc., BHU, UP India S. P. Singh Professor, Department of Agronomy, LAg. Sc., BHU, Varanasi, UP, India M. P. Singh* Assistant Professor, Tribhuwan University Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Lamjung Campus, Sundar Bazar, Lamjung, Nepal e-mail: mpneupane66@gmail.com *Correspondence Introduction Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food crop in south, south-east and east Asia where about 90% of world’s rice is grown and consumed. It is estimated that rice requirement of India by 2010 will be 118.93 million tonnes [1]. Wetland rice removes a substantial amount of major and minor nutrients from the soil. The in- creasing cost of chemical input, pollution, soil health and sustainability of the production system had gen- erated interest in the integrated nutrient management. Organic manures and biofertilizers play a vital role in maintenance of physical and biological condition of soil and also in supply of macro & micro nutrients. Neither organic manures nor chemical fertilizers along can achieve the sustainability of production system under intensive farming. Integrated use of inorganic fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers seems the only alternative which may help in improving soil health and productivity. Organic fertilizers not only act as the source of nutrients, but also provide micro- nutrients and modify soil-physical behavior as well as increase the efficiency of applied nutrients [2].