1. Nutrient Management
Key Check 5:
Sufficient nutrients from tillering to early panicle initiation and flowering
Part 1: Understanding the PalayCheck System

2. Nutrient facts
Nutrients are what plants need to grow and become productive.
Proper nutrient management improves crop growth and yield.
Rice plants grow and respond better to fertilizer when there is more sunlight.
Of all nutrient elements, rice plants need more of the following macronutrients: N, P, K, Zn, S

3. Indigenous nutrient supply
Why do rice plants need fertilizers?
Nutrient inputs as fertilizers fill the gap between crop need and indigenous supply.
Climate
Inorganic fertilizer
N-P-K
Indigenous nutrient supply
Soil
Organic fert
Crop residues
Irrigation water

4. Sufficient nutrients from
tillering to early panicle initiation (EPI) and flowering ensures good and uniform growth,
panicle development, and
attainment of yield potential
nutrients are needed to produce many tillers, panicles and filled grains
more panicles, more grains
increased yield from many tillers and panicles
for uniform maturity

5. Assessment of Key Check 5
Applied N fertilizer at tillering to EPI and flowering if leaf color chart (LCC) reading is below 4 for transplanted and below 3 for direct wet-seeded rice.
urea
DS = 1.5 bag/ha
urea
WS = 1 bag/ha

6. Assessment of Key Check 5
For transplanted rice
Achieved at least 300 panicles/m2 at flowering stage.
Randomly select 10 hills in a diagonal line across the field and count the panicles. Compute the number of panicles/m2.
Panicles/m2 =
Total number of panicles
10 hills x
Number of hills/m2

7. Assessment of Key Check 5
For direct wet-seeded rice
Achieved at least 350 panicles/m2 at flowering stage.
Use a 0.5 m x 0.5 m quadrat (0.25 m2).
Randomly select 3 sampling sites at least 1 m from the levee and in a diagonal line across the field. Count the panicles from each quadrat and get the average. Compute for the number of panicles/m2 .
No. of panicles/m2 =
Ave. number of panicles
0.25 m2 hills

8. HOW TO ACHIEVE
Key Check 5?

10. 1 HOW TO ACHIEVE KEY CHECK 5?
Know and manage the nutrient requirement of your crop based on the available information and nutrient assessment and decision-support tools.
Leaf Color Chart
Minus-One Element
Technique
Nutrient Omission Plot

11. Minus-One Element Technique
A pot experiment to determine the nutrients deficient in the soil.
Leaf Color Chart
A tool to visually assess the nitrogen status of rice crops.
Nutrient Omission Plot
A means to assess indigenous nutrient supply to serve as basis of fertilizer recommendation.

12. New! New! Nutrient Manager for Rice
a computer-based decision tool software providing field-specific nutrient management guidelines for rice

13. Consider this!
Aside from nutrient deficiency, consider mineral toxicity in deciding on the nutrients to apply.
Toxicity can occur when minerals exist in a form that becomes harmful to plants.
Worms (parasites) live in every person’s intestines, no matter how clean and healthy a person is.

14. IRON TOXICITY
Iron is naturally present in the soil and plants need iron.
But iron can be harmful in permanently-flooded fields.
IRRI
tiny brown spots on the lower leaves starting from the tip or orange-yellow to brown leaves
WHAT TO DO? Use intermittent irrigation and avoid continuous flooding in poorly-drained soils, balance fertilizers and perform dry tillage after harvest to increase iron oxidation during the fallow period.

15. Knowing right kind, amount, and timing of fertilizer application.
HOW TO ACHIEVE
KEY CHECK 5?
Know and manage the nutrient requirement of your crop based on the available information, nutrient assessment and decision-support tools.
Knowing right kind, amount, and timing of fertilizer application.
The right KAT!

16. Right KAT! Right kind Right amount Right timing
giving the right nutrients increases cost efficiency and attainment of yield target
Right kind
too much nutrients may increase pest damage
lack of nutrients may lead to slower growth of seedlings, fewer number of tillers, and lighter grain weight
Right amount
wrong timing of fertilizer application increases input cost and decreases efficiency in nutrient uptake
Right timing

17. NITROGEN
Deficiency symptoms: Stunted, yellowish plants. Older leaves or whole plants are yellowish green.

18. NITROGEN Kind Nitrogen (N) promotes rapid growth for:
increased plant height and number of tillers
increased leaf size
spikelet number per panicle
percentage filled spikelets in each panicle
grain protein content

19. NITROGEN
Amount
Too much N particularly between panicle initiation and flowering makes the plant prone to lodging and pests.
Excessive N application is costly.
Use results of LCC and Nutrient Manager as basis in properly determining the amount of N to apply.

20. NITROGEN
Timing
Use the LCC every 7 days from 14 DAT or 21 DAS until early flowering. If S is applied at 14 DAT or 21 DAS, LCC reading starts at 21 DAT or 28 DAS.
Determine right time of N application by using LCC. If more than 5 out of 10 leaves are below 4, apply 1.5 bags urea or 3.5 bags S during WS.
(Use ammonium sulfate instead of urea if plant shows sulfur deficiency or if sulfur-containing fertilizer is not used.)

21. NITROGEN Timing (Basal) seedling germination tillering panicle
initiation
flowering
ripening
land prep
Organic

22. PHOSPHORUS Deficiency symptoms:
Stunted dark green plants with narrow, short, very erect leaves and greatly reduced tillering.

23. PHOSPHORUS
Kind
Phosphorus (P) promotes tillering, root development, early flowering, and ripening.
Lack in phosphorus causes thin stems and retarded development. The number of leaves, panicles, and grains per panicle are also reduced.

24. PHOSPHORUS
Amount
Use results of MOET test and Nutrient Manager as basis in properly determining the amount of P to apply.

25. PHOSPHORUS Timing (Basal) Organic seedling germination tillering
panicle
initiation
flowering
ripening
land prep
Organic
(Basal)

26. POTASSIUM
Deficiency symptoms: Dark green plants with yellowish brown leaf margins or dark brown necrotic spots first appear on the tip of older leaves.

27. POTASSIUM
Kind
Potassium (K) improves root growth and plant vigor and helps prevent lodging. It also enhances crop resistance to pests and diseases.
K deficiency is often not detected because its symptoms do not appear until the later growth stages and are not as easy to recognize as that of N deficiency.

28. POTASSIUM
Amount
Use results of MOET test and Nutrient Manager as basis in properly determining the amount of K to apply.

29. POTASSIUM Timing (Basal) seedling germination tillering panicle
initiation
flowering
ripening
land prep
Organic fert

30. ZINC
Deficiency symptoms: Dusty brown spots on upper leaves of stunted plants appearing 2-4 weeks after transplanting

31. ZINC
Kind
Zinc (Zn) promotes good seedling and overall growth of plants.
Zn deficiency problem must be corrected to attain high yields. In Zn-deficient soils, NPK fertilizers alone cannot provide good yield unless Zn deficiency is corrected.

32. ZINC
Amount
Apply 25 kg zinc sulfate per ha at 14 DAT once a year during DS.
Use results of MOET test and Nutrient Manager as basis in properly determining the amount of Zn to apply.

33. ZINC Timing 14 DAT ZnSO4 seedling germination tillering panicle
initiation
flowering
ripening
land prep
Organic
ZnSO4

34. SULFUR
Deficiency symptoms: yellowing of young leaves, reduced no. of tillers, fewer and shorter panicles, reduced no. of spikelets per panicle, and delayed maturity

35. SULFUR
Kind
Sulfur (S) promotes uniform growth and maturity.

36. SULFUR
Amount
The amount of sulfur in S (12% sulfur) as recommended to treat P and K deficiencies is adequate to correct usual sulfur deficiency.
Use results of MOET test and Nutrient Manager as basis in properly determining the amount of S to apply.

37. SULFUR
Timing
Use S as basal or topdress S (ammonium sulfate) instead of urea.
Use 3.5 bags ammonium sulfate/ha in the dry season and 2 bags ammonium sulfate/ha in the wet season.

38. SULFUR Timing seedling germination tillering panicle initiation
flowering
ripening
land prep
Organic

39. In summary… K
Know the right KIND of nutrients your plant needs. Use nutrient assessment and decision-support tools to guide you in determining the right fertilizer to use. A
Know the right AMOUNT of fertilizer to apply. Too much or too little is not good. T
Know the right TIMING of fertilizer application to increase efficiency in input cost and nutrient uptake.

40. INPUTS OUTPUTS OUTCOME Right kind of fertilizer used
Right amount of fertilizer applied
Right timing of fertilizer application
OUTPUTS
Sufficient nutrients during tillering to early panicle initiation and flowering
OUTCOME
Good yield

41. Let’s review! Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Zinc Sulfur seedling
germination
tillering
panicle initiation
flowering
ripening

42. Matching game N def Fe toxicity S def Zn def K def P def N def P def
While the answers are hidden, you can ask a volunteer from the participants to match the words below to the pictures.
Zn def
K def
P def
N def
P def
K def
S def
Zn def
Fe toxicity

43. Nutrient Management
Key Check 5:
Sufficient nutrients from tillering to early panicle initiation and flowering

44. CREDITS
Instructional presentation designer: Ms. Ev Parac
Sources of technical content/reviewers of presentation:
Mr. Wilfredo Collado; Mr. Efren Laureles, IRRI; Mrs. Constancia Mangao and Mrs. Pelagia Orpia, BSWM
Note:
Adapted from powerpoint presentations developed by: Ms. Evelyn F. Javier, Mr. Salvador Yabes; Engr. Eugenio Castro, IRRI; Dr. Manny Regalado
You may use, remix, tweak, For more information, visit:
& build upon this presentation non-commercially. However, always use with acknowledgment.
Unless otherwise stated, the names listed are PhilRice staffers.
Produced in 2011.
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