BRRI dhan 47: a salt-tolerant variety for the boro season

June 2007 tained with urea alone. For grain breadth, treatments with 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% ZnSO4-coated urea had bolder grains before and after cooking. Coating prilled urea with ZnO at 1.5% and 2.0% gave significantly bolder grains than prilled urea only after cooking. Upon cooking, grain length increased by 1.69 to 1.76 times that of the grain before cooking, but the effect of coating prilled urea with zinc was not significant. Similarly, grain breadth increased by 1.33 to 1.47 times (see table). The grains obtained with 2.0% ZnSO4-coated urea were significantly thinner (considered a good quality trait) than those obtained with prilled urea. It is therefore concluded that zinc fertilization had no deleterious effects on the quality of basmati rice; it even increased hulling percentage and produced longer and better grains.