It has often been seen that semi dwarf varieties are proffered over tall varieties due to better grain yield and some other good characters. Tall varieties generally produce more biomass. Is there any comparative study between these two from the soil health point of view ?
The high grain yield of semi dwarf rice owes to its better dry matter partitioning from source to sink, lodging resistance (due to increased number of nodes), and the like. Of course, traditional tall varieties produce more biomass, and thus more dry matter. It is expected that such rice varieties extract more nutrients from soil, and continued practice of growing tall rice is likely to have more adverse effects on soil health than that of semi dwarf rice.
@ A. K. Choudhary, thank you for you response. It we grow tall varieties and incorporate the straw, which will be better ?
@Debasish in case one incorporates the straw of tall rice, of course it will add more organic matter. However, I am of opinion that the balance sheet (nutrients extracted and nutrients added) might be negative.
@ A. K. Choudhary - Thank you. Nutrient balance sheet is more important and I think it may be better in tall varieties if straw is incorporated well. Anyone having this type of study kindly share.
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