Abstract Rice is a staple crop for more than half the world’s population thus efforts to boost its productivity remain central to ensuring global food security. While the Green Revolution initiated in the 1960s significantly improved rice yields through high-yielding varieties and intensive agronomic inputs, such strategies have now reached diminishing returns due to environmental and agronomic limitations. To address this challenge, we explored an integrated agronomic approach that improved plant early establishment and grain yield. This method comprised three sequentially critical steps — (i) practicing the concept of priming to enhance seedling growth via nutrient supplementation and low-density sowing ; (ii) single-transplant of seedlings into each planting point and (iii) applying foliar fertilisation to promote grain filling during the reproductive stage. Together, this trio of targeted agronomic steps are acronymised as ‘PSF’ to denote the integration of the priming concept, followed by a single-transplant and finally a foliar fertiliser application. Overall, in two consecutive field trials using MR297 (white rice) and MRQ103 (fragrant rice) in Malaysia, rice grown under the PSF regime demonstrated significantly improved seedling vigour, root biomass, and tillering capacity compared to conventional practices. The PSF practice generally produced 46% more panicles and 11% higher grain-filling efficiency than conventionally grown rice. Consequently, grain yield also tremendously increased up to 76% and 48% in fragrant and white rice respectively. Furthermore, the subsequent economic analysis also confirmed that the PSF method offered greater net returns, even after accounting for the higher production costs, thus making it a cost-effective option for both food and seed production purposes. Impressively, the PSF approach also reduce seed use by over 90% than regular sowing practice Fundamentally, this study highlights the importance of early-stage plant conditioning and strategic nutrient supply in boosting rice yield and profitability. The PSF technique offers a scalable solution for enhancing productivity while maintaining environmental sustainability. With its potential to support smallholder farmers and certified seed producers alike, this integrated approach presents a plausible alternative to current high-input practices
Mujab et al. (Mon,) studied this question.