Abstract

Utilization of foliar fertilizer is not a common practice in field crop production in Ghana, upon this background this research was carried out to assess the combined effect of soil-applied and foliar fertilizer on growth and yield parameters of rice. Four treatments comprising of a control, soil-applied fertilizer and three others comprising of a combination of soil-applied and foliar fertilizer were used. The analyzed results showed some significant differences in growth and yield parameters measured.  Treatments that received the combination of soil-applied and foliar fertilizer performed better than the treatment that received the soil-applied fertilizer alone. Amongst the three treatment that received the combination of soil-applied and foliar fertilizer, T3 (soil-applied fertilizer + 150ml Boost-Extra/15l H2O) performed better than its counterparts. The results suggest that the combination of soil-applied fertilizer as basal and 150 ml Boost-Extra/15l H2O at panicle initiation stage is an option that can be adopted in the cultivation of rice.

Key words: Foliar fertilizer, boost-extra, Amankwatia rice, soil-applied fertilizer.