Bioavailability of soil nitrogen in low water-input rice production

The water demand for agriculture,municipal,industrial,and environmental purposes will be increased in the future; less water will be available for rice production. this study was conducted to determine the effects of low water irrigation on rice yield and nitrogen (n) bioavailability in soil. five different irrigation treatments,namely,wl (5cm flooding),w2 (1cm flooding),w3 (first 3 weeks 5cm then 1cm flooding),w4 (first 6 weeks 5cm then 1cm flooding),and w5 (first 9 weeks 5cm then 1cm flooding) were employed with five replications. sps200 water sampler was used to collect soil extracts and measured n bioavailability in soil. low water irrigation did not affect rice yield,yield parameters and n content in soil compared to the traditional irrigation system. our results suggest that rice production can be implemented under low water irrigation condition without affecting rice yield,yield parameters and n content. © universiti malaysia terengganu publisher.