J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ.

10(2): 191–195, 2012 ISSN 1810-3030

Effect of spacing and number of seedlings per hill on the performance

of aus rice cv. NERICA 1 under dry direct seeded rice (DDSR) system
of cultivation
S. K. Bhowmik, M. A. R. Sarkar and F. Zaman
Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh

Abstract
An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh
during the period from April to August 2011 to find out the effect of spacing and number of seedlings hill-1 on the
performance of Aus rice cv. NERICA 1. Four spacing viz. 25 cm × l5 cm, 20 cm × l5 cm. 20 cm × 10 cm and 15 cm ×
10 cm and four number of seedlings hill-1 viz. 2, 3, 4 and 5 were included in the experiment. The experiment was laid
-2
out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The highest number of total tillers m , number of
-2 -1
effective tillers m , number of grains panicle , grain yield, straw yield, biological yield and harvest index were
obtained from 20 cm × 10 cm spacing. Plant height and 1000- grain weight were not significantly affected by spacing.
Number of seedlings hill-1 exerts a significant effect on plant height. The highest value of total tillers m-2, number of
-2 -1
effective tillers m , total grains panicle , grain yield, straw yield, biological yield and harvest index were obtained from
five seedlings hill . The interaction between spacing and number of seedlings hill-1 significantly influenced yield and
-1
-2 -1
plant characters. The highest number of effective tillers m , grains panicle , grain yield, straw yield and biological
yield were recorded from the interaction between 20 cm × 10 cm and five seedlings hill-1.

Keywords: Spacing, Number of seedlings per hill-1, Dry direct seeded rice (DDSR), NERICA

Introduction
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food, of Bangladesh where it constitutes a major part of human diet.
The total area and production of rice in Bangladesh are 11.35 million hectares and 31.975 million tons,
respectively (BBS, 2010). Aus rice is cultivated on 8.9% of the total cropped area of Bangladesh (BBS,
2010). The national average yield of rice in Bangladesh is very low (2.91 t ha-1) compared to that of other
rice growing countries (BBS, 2010). At the same time the total rice growing area is being continuously
declined at about 0.61 per annum due to urbanization and industrialization. So attempts should be made
to increase the yield per unit area. Under such condition there is no way out other than the development
and adoption in yield increasing technologies. Among different management practices, use of appropriate
number of seedlings hill-1 and spacing are important.

Plant spacing has an important role on growth and yield of rice. Optimum plant density ensures the plant
to grow properly with their aerial and underground parts by utilizing more solar radiation and soil nutrients
(Miah et al., 1990). Closer spacing hampers intercultural operations. Also in a densely populated crop, the
inter-plant competition is very high for nutrients, air and light, which usually results in mutual shading,
lodging and thus favours more straw yield than grain yield. On the other hand, under wider plant spacing
desired hill unit-1 area cannot be obtained, which ultimately reduces yield unit-1 area. The maximum
benefit can be derived from a rice field, if the crop is properly spaced between rows and within rows. Alam
(2006) stated that optimum spacing gave a maximum number of total tillers m-2, maximum number of
fertile tillers m-2 which was dependent on temperature, moisture and other soil factors. Shrirame et al.
(2000) reported that total number of tillers hill-1 was higher at the wider spacing. They also observed that
two seedlings hill-1 gave significantly higher number of tillers hill-1 than three seedlings hill-1.

Number of seedlings hill-1 is an important factor for successful rice production because it affects plant
population unit-1 area, availability of sunlight and nutrients, photosynthesis and respiration, which
ultimately influence the yield contributing characters and yield (Chowdhury et al., 1993). Optimum number
of seedlings hill-1 may facilitate the rice plant to grow properly both in its aerial and underground parts by
utilizing maximum radiant energy, nutrient, space and water and also can reduce seedling cost. Excess
number of seedlings hill-1 may produce higher number of tillers hill-1 resulting in shading, lodging and thus
192 Effect of spacing and number of seedlings hill-1 of aus rice

favor the production of straw instead of grain. On the other hand, the lesser number of seedlings hill-1 may
cause insufficient tiller number, thus keeping space and nutrients underutilized and at the end, total
number of panicles unit-1 area may be reduced resulting in poor gain yield. It is, therefore, necessary to
determine the suitable number of seedlings hill-1 for obtaining higher yield from a HYV of rice. Alam
(2006) reported that highest number of total tillers and number of effective tillers were obtained from 2
seedlings hill-1. Obulamma and Reddeppa (2002) revealed that one seedling hill-1 gave the highest grain
yield, crop growth rate and net assimilation rate while 3 seedlings hill-1 had the highest dry matter
prosecution, leaf area index and leaf area density. The study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of
spacing and number of seedlings per hill on the performance of Aus rice cv. NERICA 1 under Dry Direct
Seeded Rice (DDSR) system of cultivation.

Materials and Methods

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University,
Mymensingh during the period from April to August 2011. The land was medium high and the soil was
silty-loam and well drained and its general fertility level was low. The soil of the experimental field was
more or less neutral in reaction with pH value 6.5 and low in organic matter content (1.67%). NERICA 1
was used as test crop in the experiment. The experiment consisted of four spacing viz. 25 cm × l5 cm, 20
cm × l5 cm. 20 cm × 10 cm and 15 cm × 10 cm and four numbers of seedlings hill-1 viz. 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Each block
was divided into 16 unit plots and size of the unit plot was 10 m2 (4.0 m × 2.5 m). The experimental land
was first opened with a power tiller. Then the land was prepared by ploughing and cross-ploughing with a
country plough and subsequently leveled by laddering. Weeds and stubble were removed from the field
before sowing the seeds. The field layout was accomplished according to the experimental design
adopted on 01 May 2011. Healthy seeds were selected by specific gravity method. Seeds were then
immersed in a bucket of water for 24 hours. These seeds were then taken out of water and kept in
incubation for 24 hours and then were sown directly in the main field. The experimental area was fertilized
with 180-125-66-60-10 kg ha-1 of urea, triple super phosphate, muriate of potash, gypsum and zinc
sulphate respectively. The entire amounts of triple super phosphate, muriate of potash, gypsum and zinc
sulphate were applied at the time of final land preparation. Urea was applied in three equal splits. The first
split of urea was applied at the time of final land preparation, the second split of urea was top dressed at
20 days after sowing (DAS) and the third split of urea was top dressed at 40 days after sowing (DAS).
Crop management practices such as drainage, plant protection measures were done as per requirement
and three weeding were done in order to keep the crop weed free at 15, 30 and 45 DAS. Initially 6 seeds
were sown hill-1. After emergence, the seedling were thinned out to maintain the treatment (2, 3, 4, 5
seedlings hill-1) in different plots.

At physiological maturity central 1 m2 area of each plot was harvested, sundried to record the data on
plant height (cm), number of total tillers m-2, number of effective tillers m-2, number of non-effective
tillers-2, number of grains panicle-1, number of sterile spikelets panicle-1, 1000-grain weight (g), grain yield
(tha-1) and straw yield (t ha-1) were recorded from five randomly selected hills in each unit plot from the
sampling area excluding border rows. The crop was harvested at maturity from a harvest area of 2.5m x
2.0m in the middle portion of each unit plot. The grains and straws were sun dried converted to ton per
hectare with 14% moisture content of grains. The biological yield and harvest index were calculated with
the following formula:

Biological yield = Grain yield + straw yield

Harvest index (%) = (Grain yield/Biological yield) ×100.
Collected data were analyzed statistically using MSTAT-C programme and the means were compared by
Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (Gomez and Gomez, 1984).
Bhowmik et al. 193

Results and Discussion

Effect of spacing: Number of total tillers m-2, number of effective tillers m-2, number of grains spikelets-1,
number of sterile spikelets panicle-1, grain yield, straw yield, biological yield and harvest index were
significantly affected by different spacing (Table 1). The highest number of total tillers m-2, number of
effective tillers m-2, number of grains panicle-1 were obtained in S3 (20 cm × 10 cm) spacing and the
lowest number of total tillers m-2, number of effective tillers m-2, number of grains panicle-1 were obtained
in S1 (25 cm × 15 cm) spacing. The highest grain yield (3.13 t ha-1) was observed in S3 (20 cm × 10 cm)
spacing. The highest number of effective tillers m-2 and the highest number of grains panicle-1 were
mainly responsible for this highest grain yield. Grain yield obtained in S4 (15 cm × 10 cm) spacing was
statistically identical to the spacing S3 (20 cm × 10 cm). The lowest grain yield (1.85 t ha-1) was obtained
from S1 (25 cm × 15 cm) spacing mainly because of the lowest number of effective tillers m-2 and the
lowest number of grains panicle-1. Similar results were also obtained by Moniruzzaman (2003). The
highest straw yield (3.58 t ha-1) was observed in S3 (20 cm × 10 cm) spacing mainly because of the
highest number of total tillers m-2.On the other hand, the lowest straw yield (2.55 t ha-1) was obtained from
S1 (25 cm × 15 cm) spacing caused mainly due to the lowest number of total tillers m-2. The highest
biological yield (6.70 t ha-1) and harvest index (46.63%) were observed in S3 (20 cm × 10 cm) spacing. On
the other hand, the lowest biological yield (4.39 t ha-1) was obtained from S1 (25 cm × 15 cm) spacing
(Table 1).
Effect of number of seedlings hill-1: Number of seedlings hill-1 had significant effect on yield and yield
contributing characters of Aus rice. The tallest plant was observed in two seedlings hill-1. Five seedlings
hill-1 produced the shortest plant. It was observed that plant height showed a decreasing trend with the
increase of number of seedling hill-1 and became the shortest one at five seedlings hill-1. The highest
number of total tillers m-2, number of effective tillers m-2 and the highest number of grains panicle-1 were
found in five seedlings hill-1. The lowest number of total tillers m-2, number of effective tillers m-2 and the
lowest number of grains panicle-1 were found in two seedlings hill-1. The highest grain yield (3.05 t ha-1)
was obtained at five seedlings hill-1. The highest number of effective tillers m-2 and the highest number of
grains panicle-1 were mainly responsible for this highest grain yield. Grain yield decreased progressively
with the decrease of number of seedlings hill-1. The lowest grain yield (2.19 t ha-1) was found in two
seedlings hill-1 because mainly of lowest number of effective tillers m-2 and lowest number of grains
panicle-1. The highest straw yield (3.57 t ha-1) was produced by five seedlings hill-1 caused mainly due to
the highest number of total tillers m-2. The lowest straw yield (2.75 t ha-l) was obtained from two seedlings
hill-1 because mainly of the lowest number of total tillers m-2. The highest biological yield (6.63 t ha-1) and
harvest index (45.93%) were obtained from five seedlings hill-1. Weight of 1000 grains was not
significantly affected by number of seedlings hill-1 (Table 1).
Interaction effect of spacing and number of seedlings hill-1: Interaction effect of spacing and number
of seedlings hill-1 had significant on yield and yield contributing characters of Aus rice except plant height
(cm) and 1000-grain weight. The highest number of total tillers m-2 and number of grains panicle-1 were
obtained from S3 (20 cm × 10 cm) spacing with five seedlings hill-l. The highest grain yield (3.53 t ha-1)
and straw yield (4.02 t ha-1 ) were obtained from the S3 (20 cm × 10 cm) spacing with five seedlings hill-1
.The lowest grain yield (1.46 t ha-1) and straw yield (1.98 t ha-1) were obtained from S1 (25 cm × 15 cm)
spacing with two seedlings hill-1. The highest biological yield (7.55 t ha-l) was recorded from S3 (20 cm ×
10 cm) spacing with five seedlings hill-1 and the lowest biological yield (3.44 t ha-1) was obtained from S1
(25 cm × 15 cm) spacing with two seedlings hill-1 (Table 2).
Results revealed that plant spacing and number of seedlings hill-1 have considerable role in increasing
yield of rice. Optimum plant density ensures the plant to grow properly. When the plant density exceeds
the optimum level, competition among plants for light above ground or for nutrients below the ground
become severe, consequently the plant growth slows down and the grain yield decreases. On the other
hand, optimum number of seedlings hill-1 influences the tiller formation, solar radiation interception, total
sunshine reception, nutrient uptake and other physiological phenomena and ultimately affects the growth
and development of rice plant. Therefore, it can be concluded that spacing 20 cm × 10 cm with five
seedlings hill-1 appears as the best combination to obtain maximum grain yield of aus rice cv. NERICA 1
under Dry Direct Seeded Rice (DDSR) system of cultivation.
194 Effect of spacing and number of seedlings hill-1 of aus rice

Table 1. Effect of spacing and number of seedlings hill-1 on yield and yield contributing characters
of aus rice cv. NERICA1
Number Number Number Number Number 1000-
Plant Number Grain Straw Biological Harvest
of of non- of of sterile of total grain
Treatments height of total yield yield yield index
-2 effective effective grains spikelets spikelets weight -1 -1 -1
(cm) tillers m -2 -2 (t ha ) (t ha ) (t ha ) (%)
tillers m tillers m panicle-1 panicle
-1
panicle
-1
(g)
Spacing (cm)
S1 92.40 138.25d 109.58c 28.67 102.78d 31.64a 134.42d 23.94 1.85c 2.55b 4.39c 42.10d
S2 93.16 145.75c 119.42b 26.33 107.60c 28.85b 136.45c 24.53 2.47b 3.09ab 5.56b 44.38c
S3 92.28 151.58a 123.42a 28.17 124.65a 23.79d 148.45a 24.48 3.13a 3.58a 6.70a 46.63a
S4 92.13 149.42b 122.50ab 26.92 112.98b 25.26c 138.24b 24.50 2.97ab 3.50a 6.47a 45.82b
CV (%) 4.12 4.36 5.24 4.26 6.33 5.45 5.78 6.59 7.45 6.31 4.18 5.85
Level of
sig. NS ** ** NS ** ** ** NS ** ** ** **
-1
Number of seedlings hill
2 93.98a 128.33d 99.00d 29.33b 90.33d 36.75a 127.08c 24.00 2.19d 2.75c 4.94c 44.14b
3 92.41b 128.11c 103.22c 24.89c 99.27c 26.26b 125.53d 24.08 2.37c 3.06b 5.42b 43.49c
4 92.30c 147.33b 122.44b 24.89c 119.52b 23.81c 143.33b 24.63 2.80b 3.34ab 6.14a 45.38a
5 91.27d 174.11a 144.00a 30.11a 138.90a 22.73d 143.33b 24.75 3.05a 3.57a 6.63a 45.93a
CV (%) 4.12 4.36 5.24 4.26 6.33 5.45 5.78 6.59 7.45 6.31 4.18 5.85
Level of
sig. ** ** ** ** ** ** ** NS ** ** ** **
In a column, figures with same letter or without letter do not differ significantly whereas figures with dissimilar letters differ
significantly (as per DMRT).
**= Significant at 1% level of probability. NS= Not significant.
-1 -1 -1 -1
N1= 2 seedlings hill , N2= 3 seedlings hill , N3= 4 seedlings hill , N4= 5 seedlings hill
S1 = 25 cm × 15 cm, S2= 20 cm × 15 cm, S3= 20 cm × 10 cm, S4 = 15 cm × 10 cm

Table 2. Effect of interaction of spacing and number of seedlings hill-1 on yield and yield
contributing characters of aus rice cv. NERICA1
Number of Number Number Number
Plant Number Number of Numbers 1000- Grain Straw Biological Harvest
seedlings of non- of sterile of total
-1 height of total effective of grains grain wt yield yield yield index
hill × -2 -2 effective -1 spikelets spikelets -1 -1 -1
(cm) tillers m tillers m -2 panicle -1 -1 (g) (t ha ) (t ha ) (t ha ) (%)
spacing tillers m panicle panicle
N1×S1 93.01 122.67j 94.00h 28.67b-f 74.30L 40.08a 114.38h 23.87 1.46h 1.98e 3.44g 42.40ef
N1×S2 94.00 128.00i 95.33h 32.67bc 86.16j 41.56a 127.72f 24.25 2.09f 3.07b 5.16e 40.77f
N1×S3 93.44 134.67h 113.67g 21.00c-g 107.57h 31.52b 139.09e 23.79 2.70cd 3.02bc 5.72cd 47.20a
N1×S4 95.47 134.33h 107.67f 26.67gh 93.28i 33.82b 127.11f 24.10 2.52de 2.93bc 5.44de 46.18b
N2×S1 93.34 118.33k 87.33i 31.00b-e 80.90k 32.59b 113.49h 24.08 1.81g 2.63cd 4.44f 40.80f
N2×S2 92.59 132.67h 115.33f 17.33h 92.90i 26.87cd 119.77g 24.38 2.26f 2.98bc 5.24e 43.09de
N2×S3 92.25 132.00h 89.00g 43.00d-g 118.09fg 21.60fg 139.69de 23.86 2.76c 3.28b 6.05bc 45.70b
N2×S4 91.48 133.33hi 107.00i 26.33a 105.19h 23.99def 129.18f 23.99 2.65cde 3.33b 5.97c 44.35cd
N3×S1 91.78 142.00g 120.00e 22.00gh 115.41g 27.91c 143.31d 24.15 1.87g 2.45d 4.32f 43.29d
N3×S2 93.63 147.67f 124.67d 23.00fgh 119.05f 23.18efg 142.23de 24.55 2.47e 2.97bc 5.44de 45.39bc
N3×S3 92.16 158.67e 140.00de 18.67b-e 126.46e 22.16fg 148.62c 25.12 3.51a 3.97a 7.48a 46.89a
N3×S4 91.63 152.33d 122.67bc 29.67h 117.17fg 21.99fg 139.17e 24.68 3.35a 3.95a 7.30a 45.95b
N4×S1 91.47 170.00c 137.00c 33.00b 140.51b 25.99cde 166.51a 23.66 2.25f 3.13b 5.38de 41.90f
N4×S2 92.42 174.67b 142.33b 32.33bcd 132.31d 23.78def 156.09b 24.92 3.08b 3.33b 6.41b 48.28a
N4×S3 91.27 181.00ab 151.00a 30.00efg 146.49a 19.89g 166.38a 25.17 3.53a 4.02a 7.55a 46.73ab
N4×S4 89.93 177.67a 152.67a 25.00b-e 136.28c 21.24fg 157.52b 25.24 3.35a 3.81a 7.16a 46.79a
CV(%) 4.12 4.36 5.24 4.26 6.33 5.45 5.78 6.59 7.45 6.31 4.18 5.85
Level of
NS ** ** ** ** ** ** NS ** ** ** **
sig.
In a column, figures with same letter or without letter do not differ significantly whereas figures with dissimilar letters differ
significantly (as per DMRT).
** = Significant at 1% level of probability. NS= Not significant.
-1 -1 -1 -1
N1= 2 seedlings hill , N2= 3 seedlings hill , N3= 4 seedlings hill , N4= 5 seedlings hill
S1 = 25 cm × 15 cm, S2= 20 cm × 15 cm, S3= 20 cm × 10 cm, S4 = 15 cm × 10 cm
Bhowmik et al. 195

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-1
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