Site description The experiment was conducted in the farmer’s fields having rice–rice cropping system during 2013–2015. The experimental sites were located in Rangpur region covering seven upazilas viz. Gongachora (25.8500°N 89.2167°E), Badarganj (25.40°N 8903°E) and Taraganj (25.8111°N 89.0167°E) of Rangpur district, Nageshawry (25.9792°N 89.7083°E) and Kurigram Sadar (25.8167°N 89.6500°E) of Kurigram district, Lalmonirhat Sadar (25.9153°N 89.4500°E) of Lalmonirhat district and Nilphamari Sadar (25.9417°N 88.8444°E) of Nilphamari district. Experimental sites belong to Tista Meander Floodplain (AEZ 3). Non-calcareous Grey Floodplain soils and Non-calcareous Brown Floodplain soils are predominant and the climate is subtropical. Generally, three distinct seasons: a hot, humid summer from March to June; a cool rainy monsoon season from June to October; and a cool dry winter from October to March prevail in this region. Experimental design and treatments Randomized complete block design with three treatments were followed and each field was considered as a block (replication). In a season, the experiment was carried out in six farmers’ field in three upazilas. Farmers’ fields were selected through group discussion with the farming communities to ensure fertilizer management practices of selected farmers are representative of the respective location. The treatments were: AEZ-based chemical fertilizer, rice straw (RS) @ 4.5 t ha−1 + IPNS-based chemical fertilizer, and farmers’ practice (FP). The unit plot size was 8 m × 6 m. Transplanting and management The test varieties were BRRI dhan29 and BRRI dhan58 in Boro season and BRRI dhan49 and BRRI dhan52 in T. Aman season. Two to three 30 days old seedlings in T. Aman and 40 days old in Boro seasons were trans-planted at 20 cm × 20 cm spacing. In T. Aman season, transplanting was done in the second week of July and in Boro season; it was in the first week of January. Nitrogen, P, K, S, and Zn were applied as Urea, TSP, MoP, Gypsum, and Zinc sulphate, respectively. Full dose of TSP, MoP, Gypsum, Zinc sulphate, and 1/3rd of urea were applied as basal. The remaining 2/3rd of urea was applied at maximum tillering stage and before one week of panicle initiation at equal split. All the intercultural operations and appropriate plant protection measures were taken when necessary. Soil analysis Initial soil samples were collected from each field and processed for chemical analysis. Soil samples were analyzed for pH, total organic carbon, total N, exchangeable K, and available S following the standard procedure described by Jacson (1973), Black (1965), Olsen, Calc, Watanabe, and Dean (1954) and Page, Miller, and Keency (1982). Plant sample analysis Plant samples were collected at harvesting for N, P, and K analysis and nutrient uptake by rice plants. Total N was determined by Micro Kjeldhal method (Bremner, 1965) and P, K, and S contents were determined by nitricperchloric acid digestion method (Yamakawa, 1992). The nutrient uptake was calculated as:2.6. Harvesting Crops were harvested manually at maturity. Grain yield was calculated from 5 m2 area and adjusted to 14% moisture content. Straw yield was calculated on oven dry basis from randomly collected 16 hills from the ground level (Sarkar et al., 2016). Statistical analysis The box plot is a standardized way of displaying the distribution of data based on the five number summaries: minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum. The yield data of grain and straw were presented in box plots. The data of nutrient concentration and uptake were analyzed statistically by applying analysis of variance. The mean comparisons were made by least significant difference (LSD) test at 5% level of significance, where significance was indicated by F-test (Gomez & Gomez, 1984). Statistical Tool for Agricultural Research (STAR 2.0.1, International Rice Research Institute, Philippines) was used for computation.