IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2021) 12-1

Research article
erd

Effect of Chicken Manure and Chemical Fertilizer
Applications on Growth and Yield of Rice (Oryza sativa L.)
KYI KYI SHWE*
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Email: kyikyishwe@yau.edu.mm

SWE SWE MAR
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

THEINGI WIN
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

WIN YU HLAING
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

HSU MYAT THWIN
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

KYAW NGWE
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

TORU SAKAI
Japan International Center for Agricultural Sciences, Japan
Received 30 December 2020

Accepted 30 June 2021(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The field experiment was conducted at Yezin Agricultural University Farm, Yezin,
Nay Pyi Taw, during July to November wet season, 2020, to investigate the effects of chicken
manure and chemical fertilizer applications on growth, yield and yield components of rice. The
experimental design was a randomized complete block (RCB) design with four replications.
The four treatments were T1 (control, no application), T2 (80 N, 20 P, 32 K) kg ha-1
(recommended rate), T3 (5 ton ha-1of chicken manure), and T4 (2.5 ton ha-1 of chicken manure+ recommended rate of fertilizer). Urea, triple superphosphate and muriate of potash were usedas the N, P, and K sources and chicken manure was applied basally. The Sinthukha rice variety
was tested. The plant growth parameters were recorded at biweekly intervals and the yield andyield components data were also collected at harvest time. The results show that the combined
application of organic manure and recommended rate of fertilizer (T4 treatment) increased thenumber of panicles hill-1, number of spikelets panicle-1, filled grain percentage, and harvest
index in comparison to other treatments. Moreover, the highest grain yield (6.87 ton ha-1) was
observed in T4 treatment and the minimum grain yield (6.09 ton ha-1) was found in T1. Amongthe four treatments, T2 showed the second highest yield of rice in this study. The combined
application of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer (T4) increased grain yield up to 12% overcontrol. The application of chemical fertilizer only (T2) increased yields 7% more than thecontrol. The application of chicken manure (T3) resulted in a 6% yield increase compared to thecontrol. The application of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer (T4) increased yield per
hectare by up to 6-12% more than the control. Therefore, the combined application of chicken
manure and chemical fertilizer had the greatest effect on improving the yield of Sinthukha rice
variety and maintaining soil sustainability.
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Keywords chicken manure, chemical fertilizer, rice yield

INTRODUCTION
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food of about 3 billion people, nearly half the world’s population,
who depend on rice for survival. In many countries, rice accounts for more than 70% of human caloric
intake and represents the main source of protein for poor people in all developing countries (Sharma,2014). Rice cultivation is the principal activity and source of income for millions of households aroundthe world, and several countries in Asia and Africa are highly dependent on rice as a source of foreignexchange earnings and government revenue (FAO, 2014).
Myanmar is the world’s sixth-largest rice producing country (Maclean et al., 2013). Rice is grown
during the monsoon and summer seasons in Myanmar’s four growing zones designated as delta, dryzone, coastal zone, and mountainous areas (Linn and Maenhout, 2019). The total area sown to rice in
Myanmar was 7.22 million hectare (ha) with an annual production of 28.01 million metric ton and an
average yield of 3.92 MT ha -1 in 2018-2019 (MOALI, 2019).
Due to the increasing cost of chemical fertilizers, depletion of soil micronutrients, environmental
and health hazards, the use of organic manure in farming has attracted much attention (Ramesh et al.,2005). The adequate fertilizers in rice are fundamental to achieve great productivity. On the other hand,
animal manures and green manures are little used as a source of nutrients in rice crops (Schmidt andKnoblauch, 2019). Organic manures are excellent fertilizers, containing nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium and micronutrients essential for the healthy growth of plants. Furthermore, it has numerous
beneﬁts due to the balanced supply of nutrients including micronutrients. In agricultural ﬁelds, organic
manure that is manufactured from animal byproducts has been utilized to overcome environmental
pollution and plant productivity reductions that result from the constant utilization of chemicalfertilizers (Han et al., 2016).
Organic manure such as poultry manure increases the organic matter (OM) content of soil and inturn releases the plant nutrients in a form available for use (Magkos et al., 2003). It contains essential
nutrient elements associated with high photosynthetic activity and thus promotes root and vegetable
growth (John et al., 2004). Previous studies have shown that the integration of inorganic fertilizer withorganic manure has been more beneficial than the use of either mineral fertilizer or organic manurealone, especially in intensive agricultural production. Therefore, the integrated use of both organic
manure and chemical fertilizers can provide the best approach in providing greater stability inproduction and improving soil fertility status (Islam et al., 2011).
OBJECTIVES
The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of applications of different combinations ofchicken manure and chemical fertilizer on growth, yield and yield components of rice and to ascertain
the most favorable application rate to improve yield of rice.
MATERIALS AND METHODSThe experiment was conducted in the Yezin Agricultural University Farm Yezin, Nay Pyi Taw, during2020 wet season, from July to November. Yezin is located at 19º 52' N and 96º 37' E with an altitude of
103 meters above sea level. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design(RCBD) with four treatments and four replications. The individual plot sizes were (5 x 5) m2. Double
bands provided separation between plots. Treated plots were separated about 1m from surrounding
fields to prevent contamination which may have an effect on treatments, such as any mixing ofⒸ ISERD

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fertilizers during irrigation. The treatments were T1 (control, no fertilizer application), T2 (80 N, 20 P,
32 K) kg ha-1 (recommended rate), T3 (5 ton ha-1of chicken manure), T4 (2.5 ton ha-1 of chicken
manure + fertilizer at the recommended rate). Urea, triple superphosphate and muriate of potash wereused as N, P and K sources. Chicken manure and triple superphosphate and potash fertilizers wereapplied basally. Urea fertilizer was applied equally at three different stages (basal, active tillering andpanicle initiation). The soil texture of the experimental field was sandy loam, had a moderately acid(pH 5.8), was low in organic matter (1.09 %), had medium levels of available nitrogen (87 ppm), wasslightly low in available phosphorus (3.5 ppm), low in available potassium (104 ppm) and low in
available sulphur (36 ppm).
Sinthukha rice was the variety tested. The twenty day old seedlings were transplanted and spaced
at 20 cm × 20 cm. Irrigation was provided during the growing season as necessary. Weed control andother management procedures were regularly undertaken, especially at the early stages of growth.
Harvesting was at 98 days after transplanting (DAT).
Plant growth parameters such as plant height and number of tillers per hill from five randomly
selected sample hills in each plot were collected from 14 DAT to 98 DAT at biweekly intervals. The
yield and yield components were recorded at harvesting stage and grain yield was measured from a 1
m2 centrally located area in each plot.
The collected data were analyzed statistically using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and meanvalues were compared by least significant difference (LSD) at 5% probability level. All statisticalanalyses used statistix 8.0 software.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Plant height was measured starting from 14 DAT to 98 DAT at biweekly intervals (Fig.1). Plant
heights were increased significantly under all treatments, from 14 DAT to 42 DAT. There was no
significant difference in plant heights in all treatments at 28 DAT, 56 DAT, 70 DAT, 84 DAT and 98
DAT. The tallest plants (116.91 cm) grew subject to T4 treatment, followed by T2 treatment (114.55cm), and T3 treatment (111.59 cm) at 98 DAT. The shortest plant was found in T1 treatment (110.53
cm). These differences may be due to the effects of the combined applications of organic manure andchemical fertilizer, releasing macronutrients and micronutrients to the plants.
The number of tillers per hill was recorded from 14 DAT to 98 DAT at biweekly intervals (Fig. 2).
The number of tillers per hill did not increase significantly with the application of chicken manure andchemical fertilizer application at the different growth stages of rice. The highest number of tillers perhill occurred in T4 (16.15) followed by T2 (14.25), T3 (13.75) and the lowest value was in T1(13.40)
at 98 DAT. It was similarly reported by Nayak et al. (2007), that a significant increase in effective
tillers hill -1 was obtained with the applications of organic manure and chemical fertilizer.
The effect of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer application on yield and yield components
are described in Table. 1. There was no significant variation in number of panicles per hill for eachtreatment. The number of panicles per hill ranged from 10.80 to 12.55. The maximum number ofpanicles per hill occurred in T4 (12.55) followed by T2 (12.50) and T3 (11.35) and the minimum
number of panicles per hill was in T1 (10.80). The greatest increase in the number of panicles per hill
occurred with the combined application of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer.
There was not a significant variation in panicle length among the different treatments. The panicle
length ranged (ranges) from 22.78 to 23.92 cm. The highest panicle length (23.92cm) was observed in
the T4 and the lowest panicle length (22.78 cm) was in T1. The increase in panicle length in response
to combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers (T4 treatment) may be due to the greater
availability of macronutrients as well as micronutrients (Awan et al., 2011).

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Fig. 1 Influence of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer applications
on mean values of plant height of riceFig. 2 Influence of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer applications
on mean values of number of tillers hill-1 of rice
There was no significant difference in number of spikelets panicle-1 among the different fertilizer
treatment methods. However, the number of spikelets panicle-1 ranged from 145.60 to 158.40, with thehighest number of spikelets panicle-1 occurring in T4 (158.40), followed by T2 (152. 40), T3 (146.15),
and the lowest number of spikelets panicle-1 was in T1 (145.60) where there was no fertilizer applied.
Increases in spikelet panicles-1 may be due to the application of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer.
The maximum spikelets panicle-1 occurred with the addition of organic matter to the soil and this might
be due to the availability of macro as well as micro plant nutrients (Siavoshi et al., 2011).
The filled grain percent ranged from 65.61% to 80.10%. The maximum filled grain percentage
was shown in T4 (80.10%), followed by T2 (78.10%), T3 (76.48%) and the minimum value occurredin T1 (65.61%). The previous study reported that the combined application of manure and fertilizer
significantly increased the number of filled grains panicle−1 (Satyanarayana et al., 2002).
The 1000-grain weight ranged from 20.48 g to 22.49 g. The highest 1000-grain weight was in T4(22.49 g), followed by T2 (21.88 g) and T3 (21.45 g). The lowest 1000-grain weight was in T1 (20.48
g). This result was in conformity to the findings of Yang et al. (2004) who recorded that 1000-grain
weight was increased by the application of chemical fertilizer and organic manure.
The highest grain yield (6.87 ton ha-1) was in T4, followed by T2 (6.53 ton ha-1), T3 (6.49 ton ha1), with the lowest grain yield (6.09 ton ha-1) in T1 treatment where no fertilizer was applied (Fig.3).
The T4 treatment (combined application of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer) increased grainⒸ ISERD

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yields by up to 12%, over those in the control. The chemical fertilizer application in the T2 treatment
increased yields 7% more than in the control. The application of just chicken manure increased yield
by 6% compared to the control. To sum up, the application of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer
increased the grain yield 6-12% over the control, and also increased the straw yields of rice. It is clearthat organic manure in combination with inorganic fertilizers increased the vegetative growth of plants
and thereby increased the straw yield of rice (Rahman et al., 2009). The chemical fertilizer offers
nutrients which are readily soluble in soil solution and thereby instantly available to plants. Nutrient
availability from organic sources is due to microbial action and improved physical condition of soil
(Sarker et al., 2004). Several authors have shown that organic amendments play a crucial role in both
short-term nutrient supply and long-term build-up of soil quality in flood-irrigated rice crops(Nishikawa et al., 2014). Moreover, organic manures increased soil nutrient availability, improved soil
structure and root development and increased soil water availability (Han et al., 2016).

Fig. 3 Influence of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer applications
on mean values of grain yield of rice
Table 1 Effect of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer applications
on mean values of yield and yield components of ricens = not significant

There was no significant variation in harvest index with different fertilizers application (Table 1).
The harvest index ranged from 0.40-0.43. The maximum harvest index occurred in T4 (0.43), followedby T2 (0.42), T3 (0.41) and the minimum value was in T1 (0.40).
CONCLUSION
The application of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer influences the growth, yield and yieldcomponents of rice. The largest differences that occur in growth parameters are in plant height, andnumber of tillers and these occur where chicken manure and chemical fertilizer (T4) are used.
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Moreover, the T4 treatment results in the highest yield and yield components. The chicken manure
released enough nutrients that resulted in increase in growth and yield of rice and it also improved thesoil properties, which in turn resulted in better growth and yield. Additionally, the organic fertilizer can
be a better supplement of inorganic fertilizer to produce higher growth and yield. The lowest values forplant growth and yield parameters are recorded in T1 where no fertilizer was applied. Only use ofchemical fertilizer is not judicious for producing any crop in agriculture. Therefore, it can be concluded
that combined application of organic manure and chemical fertilizer is necessary for crop production as
well as maintaining soil fertility in study area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the Japan International Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), for thefinancial support allowing the completion of this research.
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