response of yield and yield components of rice (oryza sativa l. cv. tarom hashemi) in rice, duck and azolla (azolla sp.) farming

in order to evaluate the yield and yield components of rice (oryza sativa l. cv. tarom hashemi) in integrated rice, duck and azolla, an experiment was conducted at the research farm of sari university of agricultural sciences and natural resources during 2012. experiment was arranged in split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. the number of ducks as main plots at four levels (0, 400, 800 and 1200 ducks.ha-1) and nitrogen source as sub plots at four levels (without azolla and nitrogen, azolla, azolla+nitrogen and nitrogen) were the treatments. analysis of variance showed highly significant differences for the number of ducks, azolla+nitrogen and their interaction effects of plant height, number of tillers.plant-1, number of panicle.plant-1, number of grains.panicle-1, panicle weight, panicle dry weight and grain yield. the results revealed that the highest values of plant height (133 cm), number of tillers (38 tillers.plant-1), number of panicle (24 numbers.plant-1), number of grains (171 numbers.panicle-1), panicle weight (23 g), panicle dry weight (13 g) and grain yield (4 t.ha-1) were recorded in 1200 duck pieces per hectare while treated with azolla (500 g.m-2) and nitrogen (50 kg.ha-1). in conclusion, results of the current experiment showed that increasing of duck number from 400 to 1200 pieces.ha-1 along with azolla and nitrogen could enhance the yield and yield components of rice (tarom hashemi cultivar).