Study on the NPK Uptake and Growth of Rice under Two different Cropping Systems with different Doses of Organic Fertilizer in the Imogiri Subdistrict, Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia

Rice plants are commonly cultivated in a grid system with a plant spacing of 25 cm x 25 cm. The modification of spacing to increase nutrient uptake by providing plant free area (PFA) for better air circulation and sunlight distribution needs to be further studied. This study examined the differences in NPK uptake and rice growth in organic farming using the grid system and the cropping system with longitudinal rows given space in between. The distance between plants within a row is 12.5 cm, and the distance between rows is 25 cm. A PFA of 50 cm is given for every two rows of rice plants. The before-mentioned cropping system is called Jarwo 2:1. The fertilization treatment for both rice cropping systems was the same, which is a mixture of cow manure and neem compost (1:1) at doses of 0, 3, 6, and 9 ton ha^-1. The research data are presented in tables and graphs to show the effects of modification of the rice cropping system on the nutrient uptake. The results showed that the Jarwo 2:1 provided a higher N, P, K uptake compared to the Grid system. The provision of PFA had an impact on increasing the number of tillers, the number of productive tillers, and the number of panicles. The best fertilizer application was at a dose of 9 tons/ha^-1.