The productivity of crops depends on cultivation methods, soil fertility, biotic and abiotic factors affecting the crop yield. It is necessary to understand the growth, yield and quality characteristic of a crop in various cultivation methods for achieving better yield and quality. The objectives of this study were to evaluate growth, yield and grain quality performance of upland rice cultivar (NERICA-4) under paddy field conditions and to compare it with other lowland cultivars. Three lowland cultivars (IR-28, Koshihikari and Nipponbare) and one upland cultivar (NERICA-4) were used. Fertilizers as a basal (N, P2O5, K2O: 60, 100, 60 kg ha-1) and top dressing (20, 0, 30) were applied. Three seedlings were manually transplanted on 16 May 2012, in a randomized complete block design. Compared to other cultivars, NERICA-4 was found to become mature earlier and produced lower stem number per square meter, dry weight, leaf area index, chalky grain, and rough rice yield. However, it produced the highest number of spikelets per panicle and nitrogen contents, followed by IR-28. The yield of NERICA-4 was (5.7 ton/ha), slightly lower than other cultivars. The highest percentage of cracked grain was observed in IR-28 followed by NERICA-4. It was caused by the rainy condition and fluctuating temperature at maturity, leading to the expansion of cracks in individual grain. These results suggest that, upland condition is more suitable for NERICA-4 culturing and harvesting than the paddy field because, for the identical amount of yield, the upland condition needs less amount of water than the paddy field condition.
